Jackson Junior 15: The Pandorica Opens
by drgemini86
Summary: As one of her last official acts before maternity leave, Sam visits Eureka. In true SG-1 and Eureka tradition, nothing goes to plan... and if that wasn't bad enough, the Doctor appears with a stark warning. Sequel to JJ: Lost and Found. SamDaniel CamVala
1. Chapter 1

_**Jackson Junior XV: The Pandorica Opens**_

_**Summary: **As one of her last official acts before maternity leave, Sam visits Eureka. In true SG-1 and Eureka tradition, nothing goes to plan... and if that wasn't bad enough, the Doctor appears with a stark warning. Sequel to Jackson Junior: Lost and Found. _

_**Pairings: **Sam/Daniel, Sam/Doctor, Cam/Vala, Jonas/Carolyn, Jack/Sara, Teal'c/Ish'ta, Cassie/OC McCarson, ShWeir, Lornifer, Jack/Tess_

_**Rating: **T_

_**Crossover: **Stargate: Atlantis, Doctor Who, House, Eureka_

_**Category: **Established Relationship_

_**Genres: **A/U, Action/Adventure, Crossover, Drama, Family, Relationship, Romance_

_**Series: **15 of hopefully 15. I think this might actually be it... for now... ;o) As with previous stories in this series, telepathic conversation is in italics and delimited by apostrophes/single quotes._

_**A/N: **The Pandorica arc is something I've borrowed from season 5 of Doctor Who. As this is roughly set in around season 19, SG-1 time, the other shows featured are set in their respective future timelines too._

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**A/N: **lyrics featured are from Worried Man Blues (George "The Possum" Jones version)_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sam wandered around the corridors of the SGC, her swollen abdomen quite obvious beneath her blue base uniform. She tucked her hands in her pockets; something that she usually wouldn't have done, but she had gradually relaxed into her role as base commander. And besides, after everything she had been through recently, she felt the need to break some kind of protocol just out of relief.

And, well, she had just managed to complete what seemed like an unending pile of paperwork. She smirked briefly as she thought of how she had used her condition to send Cam to meetings in her place. She stopped by certain labs and watched demonstrations of particular pieces of equipment acquired off-world or developed in-house.

What saddened her somewhat was that the scientists – some whom she had considered previously to be friends – were nervous around her. It wasn't just her rank, she surmised. She had to admit that having Ancient abilities was more of a burden than a blessing most of the time. It alienated her from everyone but her closest friends. Sometimes, she felt like that around Daniel too, even if he did share her abilities to an extent.

But she took solace at times in his words to her on several occasions: 'People fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer'.

At least she had him and their large family.

As they had become accustomed to, she sensed him before she saw him. Daniel appeared shortly, wearing civilian clothes and carrying a fair-haired little boy over his shoulder. She said, a touch surprised nonetheless,

"Hey."

He stopped in front of her and stooped to kiss her. He looked down at her but remained professional due to their environment. She looked up at Greg, or rather his back as the boy appeared to be asleep against his father's shoulder. She reached up to smooth his downy hair and she smiled. She looked up at Daniel as he smiled slightly at her.

'_Are you going to be done any time soon?_'

Sam hid a smile at the hint of teasing in his tone. She replied silently, '_Yeah, I'm pretty much done. Just on walkabout._'

As they walked away together, she slid an arm around his waist. He asked, worried, '_How are you doing?_'

She nodded, now feeling quite tired. _'Good. The kid wouldn't sit still when I tried to nap.'_

He turned to look at her in concern. She shook her head and changed the subject. She said aloud, "So, are you still coming with me to Oregon this Saturday?"

He appeared confused as he tried to remember what she was talking about. She rolled her eyes and sighed in despair. Despite everything, he was still a typical man sometimes. She said, "Oh, Daniel, don't tell me you forgot again. I mean, it's not like it's our anniversary, for cryin' out loud." She sighed, and continued the conversation silently due to the top secret nature of what she was about say. She said, '_Eureka... you know, that shiny place you've been wanting to visit for a month since you found out about it... where we've recruited key scientists from over the years._'

As she spoke, he appeared to realise something. He then looked embarrassed. He said, "Oh, um, right. Yeah, sorry, lot on my mind right now." He looked at her meaningfully. '_You know, with my wife being pregnant again, and having the weight of the universe on my shoulders._'

She snorted with laughter and retorted, '_You arrogant bas..._'

'_Shush now, Greg might be asleep but we still don't know how his abilities work._' He gently nudged her, and said aloud, "Anyway, as I seem to remember, you were just as excited when Jack finally handed over the files about it."

She shrugged, looking embarrassed. She said, "Well, how could I not be? It's amazing. I can't believe Jack didn't tell me about it before."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Vala leaned into the backseat of the car to secure her youngest children into their car seats. She gently batted away her daughter's prying hands, and then her eldest son's as he leaned over from the front seat to pull his mother's hair. Vala finished what she was doing and once more batted away her oldest children's hands, before stopping her youngest from chewing their hands and/or items of clothing.

Giving up, she secured Samantha's seatbelt and gently slapped her hands when the girl proceeded to make her younger brothers cry. Vala closed the door and climbed into the driving seat and shot Francis a meaningful look until he sheepishly fastened his own seatbelt. She smiled when he did and she reached over to ruffle his hair affectionately.

As she started up the engine, she muttered to herself, "I don't know how Daniel and Samantha look after you _and_ their army. You four are a big enough handful."

Francis looked up from fiddling with his belt. He said, "Momma, where are we going?"

Vala looked over at her eldest son. She smiled a little thoughtfully as she realised how much like his father the boy was getting. She said, smiling mischievously, "Your _Pa_ calls it skinny dripping or dipping or some such nonsense." She pointed at him, feigning seriousness. "Remember, no-one tells Daddy this time, okay?" She looked into the rear-view mirror and caught Samantha's gaze. "That goes for you too, sugar."

When the older kids nodded effusively, Vala smiled again. She put the car into drive and pulled out of the driveway. She muttered, "Bad enough when he found out about our day-trip to Vegas."

She sighed as she glanced in the rear-view mirror to check on her children. She then said to her eldest children, "1... 2... 3... 4..." She began to sing, shakily at first, and Francis and Samantha joined in.

"It takes a worried man to sing a worried song,  
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song,  
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long..."

Vala smiled happily as she and eldest children continued to sing. She noticed that her baby sons were gurgling along with them. As she drove, she slid her sunglasses down over her eyes. It was times like these that kind of made the hellish times somewhat bearable.

"I went down the river, I lay me down to sleep,  
I went down the river, I lay me down to sleep,  
When I woke up there were shackles on my feet

Twenty-nine links of chain around my legs..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Carolyn looked out of her bedroom window, down into the front yard where Jonas was tending to the flowers with their son Henry's help. The sun was beating down on the fair heads of father and son but neither would listen to her persistent warnings. She forced back tears that threatened to fall each time she was left alone with her thoughts. Unbeknownst to their friends – even the psychic ones, she hoped – Jonas had moved out of the bedroom some months previously.

She hadn't noticed just how much they had drifted apart, and just how they only seemed to be together for the sake of their son, until he had started sleeping in the guest room. They had even stopped rowing, but what was left was far worse. They avoided confrontation, only putting on a happy front for their friends. She didn't know what had happened, and she felt as though she couldn't ask him.

She turned away from the window, and at last the tears fell. She couldn't live like this any more. She wanted her life back; or at least as much of her life that she had around her monster of a job. One day, Henry would be old enough to realise that all wasn't right between his parents. She didn't want him to find out like that.

She had rejected offers of help and advice from her friends, only confiding in her mother. Her mother hadn't been helpful, regaling old stories about her father. Jonas was nothing like her father. This wasn't a case of Jonas abandoning his family to pursue his career; this was, amongst other things, about Jonas not acknowledging her existence most of the time.

She closed her eyes and attempted to compose herself. When she opened her eyes, the contrast was stark – she looked as though she wasn't in as much pain and despair as she truly was. She got up and pulled open her wardrobe in order to get ready for another day at work. She was just going to have to be a lot ruder to Sam this time so the General would stay clear of her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack, wearing bermuda shorts and a t-shirt, looked out at the ocean. He was stood barefoot upon a pile of rocks and he closed his eyes as the breeze swept through his cropped white hair. He had finally given it all up. He hadn't in his wildest dreams thought he would have the strength to do it. He had retired. Now his life was his to do as he pleased with.

Well, okay, his life was now totally Sara's. He shrugged to himself. It was a small price to pay to be a free man of sorts. He had been involved with the Stargate for so long that he had forgotten what it truly was like to be free. He smiled slightly as he slid his sunglasses on. It had been a fantastic few months. He and Sara had travelled the world together, and he was spending a lot more time with her than he had previously.

He felt a new man. _That_ was something he never thought he would feel either. It had taken long enough but it looked as though the universe was starting to look favourably on him. About time too, he thought.

He missed his friends though. When he was in Washington, he at least could keep tabs on them via official and unofficial channels. But now, he dreaded to think, everything was different; everyone had changed. Perhaps they didn't have room for an old man any more. He had seen them briefly since his retirement but there was too much to do; too much to see.

Well, both Daniel and Sara had practically had to force him to do something other than sit on his hands or go fishing. And he was glad that they had.

He soon became aware of a presence, and he looked down to see Sara clambering up the rocks that he was stood upon. She stood by his side, and remarked,

"Musing again?"

Jack smiled tightly. He said, "Just not used to being able to stand somewhere like this without looking around for snipers."

She appeared wistful as she looked up at him, knowing that he had gone through things that she couldn't truly understand, even if she knew about most, or at least some of them. She reached for his hand and rested her head against his shoulder. She said with a chuckle,

"Well, upside, you don't have to get that buzz cut every month."

He looked down at her with a smile and then freed his hand from hers. He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her. Feeling as though he had all the time in the world, he took his time, his other hand cupping her jaw. A man could get used to this, he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

_White light bursts in a burning fury above his bed. The flames are so bright that he has trouble seeing. He notes, however, that nothing is burning. It disappears just as suddenly as it erupted, but before he can catch his breath and rationalise what he has just seen, he is confronted by a large cube of unimaginable proportions. He is no longer in bed; he is somewhere, although where, he cannot comprehend: he is having trouble comprehending the sheer size of this cube. In fact, he cannot even begin to describe what it is called. It is a thing. A never-ending thing. _

_If that isn't enough, he is aware of a presence. A man appears; a man wearing white robes. He's quite old but young at the same time. He's glowing and he's looking at him with stern dark eyes; eyes that seem so familiar, yet he does not know this man. _

_The man speaks, and it seems to Jack that this man has all the knowledge that ever existed or will exist. It is an irrational feeling that he can't shake. _

"_This box..." Jack's attention is drawn back to the **thing**, and the man continues, "... must be destroyed. I can't do anything but you can. You have to save her."_

_Jack manages to tear his eyes from the thing long enough to query the man. "Uh... **her**?"_

_The man shakes his head. "I've told you too much already. It's all on you. You can't tell her."_

_The man disappears, leaving Jack to stare up at the thing again. The thing makes a grinding noise and slowly opens. Bright light is pouring out. He shields his eyes and shouts,_

"_**What** the hell is goin' on here?"_

_The light encompasses him and he squints as he makes out something in the brightness. He sees it; only for a second. There's a thing: a thing inside the thing. It moves and he suspects that it's a person. More movement and then two very piercing blue-grey eyes look out at him. He stares at this in shock, and then he is cast into depths of blackness._

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack Carter awoke with a gasp. It was still night. For no apparent reason, he reached up to check that his hair was still there. It was. He tried to get his breath back, his heart thumping in his chest. Dammit, he thought, he had been advised by his doctor to take it easy, or at least easier than usual. When he had managed to steady himself, he swung his legs out to the side, and switched on the bedside lamp.

He buried his head in his hands as he tried to comprehend just what he had experienced. The dream seemed to fade somewhat, but it had still shaken him greatly. He had had weird dreams – most of them par for the course living in Eureka, but this particular dream had knocked him sideways.

He glanced to the side on feeling movement behind him. He then felt his wife's arms around him. She rested her chin against his shoulder, and asked blearily, "Bad dream, baby?"

"Try 'crazy dream'." He sighed and turned to look at her. He reached up to smooth her long dark blonde hair. He said, "The sooner we go on vacation, the better." He kissed her softly and said, "Go back to sleep, Tess. Long day tomorrow... air force general coming to check the town out. Even I think it's going to be a boring day."

Tess chuckled quietly. She said, "Oh really, Jack? Just how long have you been living in this place?"

"Exactly. Just so long as I don't say the 'q'-word, we should be fine."

"Ah, the 'f'-word... Fatal last words."

They looked around themselves in partial surprise and partial acknowledgement when the main room lights switched on. Jack and Tess squinted initially as their eyes got used to the light. Jack snapped angrily,

"SARAH!"

They looked up and then at one another when the house replied to him in its usual effeminate voice whom everyone had long suspected belonged to the designer of the house, Douglas Fargo. Fargo had never admitted it, but a legend of sorts had built up that it was his impersonation of his celebrity crush, Sarah Michelle Gellar.

"There's a phone call for Doctor Fontana. It's Doctor Douglas Fargo. Do you wish to take it?"

Jack looked at Tess in that same irritated way he usually managed whenever Fargo was involved with anything. He said, "Tess, if there's another lab accident... tell him he's fired."

Tess smiled to humour him. She then said to the house, "Thank you, SARAH. Go ahead."

Jack rolled his eyes and lie down again, putting the pillow over his head. Douglas Fargo spoke hesitantly and Tess frowned when she heard banging noises in the background of the telephone call. "Uh... Doctor Carter... we have a..." He seemed to be cut off by a crackling noise, and Tess immediately looked worried. Jack sat up as Fargo then exclaimed, "Holy sh...!"

Jack was already up and pulling his sheriff uniform on. Tess called, worried, "Fargo!"

They heard what sounded like static, and then silence. After a brief pause, SARAH said, "It doesn't look good... do you want me to call him back?"

Tess hastily got dressed as Jack fled the room. Jack yelled, "You'd better fire him this time... I don't care whose fault it is."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sam waited at the end of the base ramp, as she had on so many previous occasions as base commander. She looked up at the rippling event horizon of the Stargate. She found it hard to believe at times just how long she had been involved with it and the SGC for, and how much had changed since then; how it had changed her life beyond anything she could have imagined. She looked down at her swollen abdomen when she felt a stirring within her. She hesitantly touched her bump, and she whispered silently,

'_You can feel it, can't you?_'

She felt a strange feeling in reply and her eyes widened briefly in a horrified fascination as her bump seemed to emit small orbs of light which appeared to float around her. The orbs disappeared, and she ignored Daniel's queries in her head. She calmed herself down just as the first people emerged from the event horizon. She smiled and stepped forward to shake their hands.

Sheppard stood to attention and Sam looked at him, and she sighed. She said, "Shep. Come on..."

He smiled, a touch embarrassed. He said, "Sorry, old habits."

She looked at Elizabeth who was standing next to the colonel. Elizabeth smiled as she realised the condition that Sam was in. The expedition leader said, "Congratulations."

Sam smiled. "Thank you."

She gestured for them to walk with her, and they left the gateroom. She said, "So, how is everything?"

Elizabeth appeared quietly amused as Sheppard sighed aloud. The colonel remarked, "Well, the usual, Ma'am. Rodney does something – something goes 'bang!' - Rodney fixes something." He nodded sagely as though making a very serious point. He said, "Oh, and, of course, there's the something possesses someone Rodney cares about to some extent, or an unexpected visitor." He stuck his hands in his pockets as Sam laughed and Elizabeth remained silently amused. He cocked his head and continued sarcastically, "Yep, I'm getting some templates done for mission reports; saves me typing it all out each and every time."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Doctor was flung around the interior of the TARDIS as he struggled to hold on to the nearest railing or conveniently-shaped control. It was a new ship – well, the same one but with a huge makeover – and despite one hell of an Earth year, it still needed breaking in. He missed the way his TARDIS had been; it had flown the way he had wanted it to – well, mostly – and he had just got used to it. But, as he thought with a sigh and the inevitable tumble, that it had been time for a change; he was a different man now.

Different as he may be physically, there were still things he cared about; people he cared about. It was inevitable, he supposed, that he would get attached to certain people. After all, to him, during sentimental moments, humans seemed like giants. Time Lords lived for millennia and some accomplished little, if anything, during that time. There was always something to do; something to see, and there not being enough time, even for a time traveller.

But humans, oh, humans. Their lifetimes were so brief compared to those of his race, but they accomplished so much; most of them, or at least some, made each day count. They were an amazing, fascinating race. Throughout his travels through time and space, he found that humanity always found a way to survive; to exist. If only, he thought, his own race could have been as versatile, but he wiped that thought from his mind. That was too dangerous; too complicated. It was better this way, even if he felt sad occasionally about being the last of his kind.

But he remembered how his people had been of old, how they had once been; the same Time Lords that had perfected space and time travel, and had achieved so much in the way of science, technology, culture, philosophy, music, literature. Before they had gone mad.

There was no time to think about that now. He had to get to her first. There was far too much at stake; far too much to lose for the universe as a whole. He felt briefly guilty as he remembered the trouble that had been caused because of his arrival in her life, but he had helped fix that too. She was happy with Daniel, and for once, he wasn't arrogantly asking what _he _had to offer that he couldn't. Hopefully this time around, there wouldn't be any more trouble.

The Doctor just hoped that would be on time for once. Being 'on time' for anything was quite unusual for a man who found things happening in the 'right' order a difficult concept to deal with sometimes.

He shouted as he was thrown onto his back and as he clambered up the controls to have a look at a screen. He slammed a control and pulled another down. He said desperately,

"No! No!"

He almost lost his balance once again when the TARDIS appeared to suddenly struggle mid-transit. He was stunned into silence when the ship just as suddenly became still. He appeared uncertain as he eyed the controls warily. He said cautiously,

"Okay... _that_ was weird."

The Doctor tiptoed to the door, exaggerating each step for dramatic effect despite there being no-one else with him. He sighed as he got halfway to the door and he stopped. He looked back at the main console, for some reason expecting a voice; an acknowledgement of his witticism. He was amazingly witty and there was no-one to appreciate that. He looked somewhat disappointed at this before resuming his stalk to the door.

He opened the door and peeked out. He walked straight out and raised his hands on sighting armed soldiers aiming guns at him in the gateroom of the SGC. The Doctor smiled briefly. He had got to the right place. He looked around at the soldiers, hearing various guns cocking as he looked round to look up at the Stargate. It was a far too limited way to travel for him, but he still felt a great deal of glee whenever he happened to encounter one.

The Alterans had been utterly amazing even if he didn't agree with the way they tended to do things in their Ascended form... or even if he didn't particularly agree with the whole idea of Ascending to a higher plane of existence. To him, everything had their time and everything died.

But death – or at least his own – wasn't on the cards right now, or at least that was what he hoped. He looked around at the soldiers, one of whom was shouting at him to identify himself. The Doctor kept his hands in the air and turned them so that they could see both sides. He said calmly,

"See? Look, not armed; I don't carry a weapon. Big clue there."

He was about to move to make a point that had occurred to him when the shouting one continued to shout and everyone continued to aim their weapons at him. The Doctor said, "I'm the Doctor... and for once, I don't have a lot of time." He eyed them seriously. "I need to find General Jackson. It's important. Quite important. So important in fact that I'm getting quite annoyed at how much time you're wasting holding me at gunpoint. Quite frankly, I want to speak to your commanding officer."

Suddenly, he was under an armed escort from the gateroom. He grinned at a soldier he vaguely recognised even if no-one appeared to recognise _him _following his regeneration. The Doctor said, "Take me to your leader. What a fantastic cliché I get to live."


	3. Chapter 3

Daniel looked down at Sam, the General having long fallen asleep against his shoulder. It was proving to be quite a long drive from the airport to the town, and he wondered – not for the first time – whether she should have been making the journey, considering her condition. Despite it being a military sedan, and despite them both being on duty, he had his arm around her shoulders. He gently kissed her forehead, and patiently waited out the journey. There was already an arrangement with the driver that he let them know when they were within ten minutes of the place so that Sam could have enough time to wake up and look as professional as she could, despite her very pregnant frame.

With his other hand, Daniel reached around and smoothed his wife's bump. He felt their unborn child move, and he smiled tiredly. The pregnancy had taken a lot out of both of them. He hadn't remembered being as tired during Sam's previous pregnancies, but he put his fatigue down to his age and their bond seeming to strengthen with the onward passage of time.

Still, he could not shake the feeling that something was about to happen. He didn't know what it was or when it would happen, but there was _something_; as though something was stirring: waiting to happen.

He became lost in his thoughts when suddenly there was a buzzing feeling against his chest. He frowned, absent-mindedly checking his phone. He then paused and looked at Sam. He carefully reached into the inside pocket of the jacket of her dress blues and retrieved her phone. He frowned a little as he answered it.

"Jackson."

His frown deepened when he tried to make out what was being said. He was about to speak when the line suddenly went dead. He tried to return the call but found that there wasn't sufficient coverage. Worried, he gently woke Sam up, whispering,

"Honey, I think the SGC just tried to call... but we've just lost coverage."

She quickly blinked awake and immediately grabbed her phone from him. Daniel suddenly felt drowsy the more she woke up, and he rested his head against hers. Sam looked at him in concern but eventually thought nothing of it when she considered that she hadn't remembered him sleeping for at least two days prior.

Sam concentrated on the phone in her hand; it was sometimes difficult to make use of her abilities when she was tired; even more so when she was in the later stages of pregnancy. However, whatever she was going to do was forgotten when the car braked suddenly. This woke Daniel up, and Sam shouted at the driver,

"What's going on?"

The driver, however, was slumped against the steering wheel, blood streaming from his ears. The car appeared to buckle and then expand suddenly. Sensing something off, Daniel leapt to shield his wife as the car appeared to explode around them. Seconds later, there was a flash of bluish white light and they found themselves tossed onto the grass some distance away from the flaming wreck that had been the car they had been travelling.

They stared at the sight in horror. Sam struggled to her feet and tried to dial a number on her phone. Daniel continued to stare at the sight, and he said, shocked, "What the hell just happened?"

Realising eventually that Sam was on her feet, he hastily scrambled to join her. Daniel instinctively shielded her with his body, or at least tried to, when the sky suddenly darkened. They looked up as the sky was plunged into the deepest blackness that they had ever known. Lights appeared; lights of different sizes, shapes, colours, and apparently speeds.

Daniel moved his head to narrowly miss a whizzing light that shot past them. The sudden night was filled with the different sounds of the lights, zipping this way and that around them. Sam, scared, held onto Daniel as she said,

"Daniel!"

He nodded, sensing what she had sensed, which had made him appear all the more grim. He raised his hands, a golden-white surge of energy appearing to gather around them. He focussed and then the energy was released.

Within the blink of an eye, the darkness vanished as did the lights. And they found themselves back in their car, with the driver occasionally humming snippets of old country songs as he – impossibly to them – appeared to be perfectly fine and driving down the road they had been on.

Daniel and Sam stared at one another in shock at first, and then in caution. The former whispered silently, _'What the hell just happened?'_

Sam was visibly shaken by the experience while Daniel tried to remain strong for her. She struggled to reach for his hand as she tried, almost in vain, to prevent herself from having a panic attack. Being emotionally involved with someone she faced life and death with was bad enough as far as she was concerned; but being physically vulnerable was something she had a hard time dealing with.

She muttered, "That... that was some hallucination."

They both knew – but refused to say to the other – that there was something potentially quite dangerous going on. He said silently,

_'Sam?'_

She glanced at him nervously. _'Let's just get to Eureka. Global Dynamics are going to get their asses kicked if they've 'accidentally' released hallucinogenic agents again.'_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"The readings we're getting from the Artifact are off the scale..." Tessa accidentally bumped into Jack as they negotiated their way through the lunchtime crowds in central Eureka.

Jack jammed his hands in the pockets of his brown leather jacket. He nodded in greeting at the odd familiar face, but he kept walking. Tessa continued, the scientist looking worried,

"It's never happened before; not this crazy." She glanced at her husband in worry. "Cracks in the fabric of space-time. Even here, that is only theoretical... the realms of science fiction at best."

Jack appeared to mull over what she had said. He said, frowning, "So the lightning in Fargo's lab and over that whole level of Global Dynamics...?"

She nodded, appearing helpless. "I don't actually know what's going to happen. I can take a guess though. The collapse of reality as we know it; perhaps this whole universe. If the Artifact is causing it, then there might be a way to stop it."

Jack slowed his pace as something dawned on him. He said, "A door goes two ways."

Tessa looked at him in a way which she had honed during her many years of marriage to a man who tended to infuriate her in between moments of startlingly simplistic brilliance. She said, "Jack?"

He appeared to be lost in his thoughts as he and his wife eventually stopped. He said, "The Artifact is outside space-time. If it's affecting us, then maybe we can just do it in reverse."

She snorted in disdain as she realised what he had said. She said, "What, so _reversing the polarity_?"

He then appeared puzzled. "What?"

She almost stamped her foot. She said, "Jack! It's just a quick-fix in works of science fiction." She shrugged and looked away from him. She said, "Besides, it can't be affected by us; it's outside of space-time. We can't even physically damage it."

Jack sighed as his phone rang for the countless time that day. He answered it, knowing that it was his deputy. "Hey Jo... go ahead." He looked at Tessa in a way in which _he_ had honed whereby he could let Tessa wordlessly know that he was needed elsewhere.

Tessa fought the urge to roll her eyes, and she waved at him dismissively. "Go. I can deal with the military lady. Go do your job."

"I'll be back."

Jack smiled slightly and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek before hastily walking back the way they had come. Tessa sighed as she watched him go before turning on her heel. She turned just in time to see a dark military sedan driving slowly down the street. She frowned a little and then crossed the road.

She was all ready to greet them when she stared in surprise as she recognised the people that emerged. Stunned, she forgot all pleasantries, and exclaimed, "Doctor Carter? Samantha Carter? _You're..._"

Sam slowly smiled on recognising the woman in front of her. She effusively shook the hand that Tessa eventually offered. She said, "Doctor Fontana? Holy Hannah. What are you doing here?"

Daniel stared at their one woman welcome party. He opened his mouth as though to speak but then closed it again. He looked at Sam and when she discreetly glanced at him, he eventually spoke. He looked from one to the other and said,

"_You _know her?"

Sam blinked in surprise. "You _do_?"

Tessa stared back at Daniel in gradual realisation. Sam was left to stare in incredulity as Tessa made a squealing sound and practically threw herself at Daniel. When all was calm – or at least calmer – Sam said, "So, uh, how do you guys know each other?"

Daniel appeared momentarily awkward as he felt his wife's scrutiny. He glanced at Tessa, and said, "Uh, we went out a couple of times when we were both at Chicago."

He eyed Sam challengingly, silently reminding her of times when he had come across her former boyfriends and she had expected him not to be awkward. He said, "What about you, Sam?"

Sam's suspicious expression disappeared as she remembered something. She said, looking at Tessa, "A little thing whose name I'm not at liberty to divulge right now." Sam continued silently. '_She was part of the team that spent two years researching the Stargate before you got your mitts on it._'

Tessa looked as though she was going to say something when her phone rang. She answered it, said a few words to the caller before hanging up. She sighed as she looked at her guests. She said, "Sorry, we can talk later – looks like I have a situation brewing... again."

Sam pointed to the car that still waited behind her and Daniel. She said, "Hop in, Tess."

Tessa thanked her and climbed into the front passenger seat. As she did so, Sam glanced at Daniel awkwardly. She said to Tessa, "I'll need to use your phone... ours died on the way here."


	4. Chapter 4

The door swung open, and Jack rushed into the Mitchell residence. In his arms, he carried a fair-haired blonde child. He appeared frantic as he rushed through the hall, only to stop in his tracks on seeing Cam, Vala, and Carolyn tending to four more Carter-Jacksons who were apparently asleep on various items of furniture and the floor. Jack said,

"What the hell is going on here?"

Carolyn immediately looked up on hearing Jack's voice. She had been using her stethoscope on an unconscious Greg, and she took it off, hanging it on her neck. She appeared worried, and said, "General, we need to get them to the SGC."

She got to her feet and approached him to check on Claire whom he had carried into the house. Jack said, sounding helpless, "There was a white glowy thing and then she dropped."

Jack tried his best not to lose control but Daniel's kids were as good as his, and it was like Charlie all over again whenever they got hurt in his presence. He should have done something; anything. He looked over at Cam who had got to his feet, the younger general holding Dani in his arms. What was happening?

Cam looked as though he had seen a ghost. He said, "Same thing happened here. Only James and Cammie are unaffected." In answer to Jack's wordless enquiry, Cam continued, "They're out back with our kids and Henry."

Jack immediately stiffened in consternation. He said, "Get 'em in the house."

Vala looked at him in mild incredulity. She said, "My dear retired general, they're not at risk. We all know that these four have all the glowy powers and such."

Jack rolled his eyes and remarked to Cam, "What have you been teaching this girl!" He turned back to Vala. "You take down the guard to get inside."

Cam stared at Jack momentarily as though remembering something; perhaps of old times. He then turned on his heel and raced out of the back door. Jack was still holding Claire in his arms as he said,

"Right, we get everyone back to the base. Maybe the good Doctor will know what the hell is going on here. Someone needs to get on the blower to Dannyboy and get his and Carter's asses back here."

Vala remarked with a serious frown, "You'd think they would have felt something like this."

"Exactly. Anyway... I don't trust that whole glowy shit."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

He was losing his touch. It had taken exactly three point seventeen minutes to escape this time; three point seventeen _Earth_ minutes. And it was from Stargate Command. He rolled his eyes; humans were still so primitive if they believed that that base was even the slightest bit secure. They relied too much on secrecy providing much of that security. All this he thought as he narrowly avoided being riddled by bullets – or at least being threatened by shouting soldiers – sprinting straight into the TARDIS via a number of ploys and tactics he chose not to dwell upon.

He had always hated interrogations, not least by military organisations, off-shoots, or the like. It was worse now that he looked different from the man that they had known, and that he wasn't ginger. Perhaps, he thought albeit bitterly, that if he had had ginger hair, he might have been treated with a little more respect.

As he wrenched levers and slammed buttons as he circled the central console, the man without a name hoped that he wasn't too late. There were too many things that the Doctor could never forgive himself for; this wasn't one he wanted on his conscience. He pulled out a fob watch from his jacket pocket and almost immediately replaced it. He was cutting it fine; it was possibly the finest cutting it fine in the history of cutting it fine, and he counted himself to be in a position of sufficient enough authority to think that.

The TARDIS well on its way, he looked up towards the top of the console.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Carolyn closed the door quietly and switched off the light. She made it to her desk albeit and sat down with a heavy sigh. She swivelled her chair so that she was facing the wall behind her desk. She reached out to switch on her stereo, and she closed her eyes as she leaned back in the chair. With the sound of the music filling the room, she began to cry. Tears ran down her cheeks, the sound of her quiet sobs drowned out by the music.

The pain and worries of the previous year had finally caught up with her with shocking force. She had thought, until now, that she had dealt with most of her issues, and she was usually good with hiding everything. After all, she had spent her formative years hiding when it came to er father's frequent coming and going – which was more going than coming, and a mother who struggled with that and crippling bouts of depression.

Why did it hurt so much? How many times had Jonas already gone through the 'gate or on a ship with SG-1? She hadn't felt as much pain since she was a child and had longed for her father when her mother had been taken into hospital after overdosing on tramadol. The pain gnawed at her and she felt so alone; more alone than she had ever been in her entire life.

Was it her? She had pushed so many men away during her life; had Jonas just been the latest? A part of her had always resented the way it seemed he was always being dragged into the Jacksons' many dramas. But what if that was her way of pushing him out of her life so that he wouldn't get hurt; so that there would be no chance of her finding some way to inadvertently hurt him the way her father had her?

But what of their son? Henry doted upon his father. He followed him around everywhere that he could. A relationship cannot be saved by a child; it should not, because staying together for the sake of the child could damage him in the long run. She continued to cry as she thought of the seeming impossibility that appeared to surround her. All she knew how to do was to push and to push; she didn't know how to get him back.

And then perhaps he didn't want pulling back. Should she push or just cut him out of her life completely? Right now, she didn't know anything except that she was deathly scared he would never return.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sam stared up at what appeared to be forks of white energy crackling above her. She and Daniel stood in between Jack Carter and Tessa Fontana, all four of them wearing matching expressions of wonder mixed with curiosity and fear. Jack eventually remembered that he had company, and he glanced at his wife. He then eventually glanced at their guests, and said,

"_This_ doesn't always happen. It's usually something worse."

The Jacksons eyed Jack curiously before turning their attention to Tessa. The latter remarked, "Uh, this is where we hide you and make an excuse about Doctor Fargo's experiments... but seeing as your combined background involves a lot of weird stuff I'm not privy to..."

Daniel said a touch coyly, "You want our help?"

Tessa looked at him for a moment. She then said, "You don't seem surprised."

He shrugged and glanced at Sam who seemed to momentarily be on the verge of kicking him discreetly. Daniel said with a shrug, "We might be able to lend a hand."

_'Daniel...'_

_'Sam, grow up.'_

Daniel flinched almost imperceptibly when darkness suddenly clouded his head. He glanced at his wife again before looking up at the forks of energy that continued to flash above them. Time was when something like that would have had their whole undivided attention. How could they have gone from that to having mental arguments about ex-partners while all hell broke loose around them?

Tessa looked from one to the other. She then turned her attention to Sam diplomatically, having already sensed the tension. She said, "Sam, come on, I want you to meet Doctor Fargo."

Sam didn't look as though she was going to move but then Daniel discreetly nudged her. She shot him a blank look, inwardly sending forth as much evilness as she could muster considering her condition. Jack looked from Daniel to the now retreating scientists. He then looked back at the archaeologist, and said,

"I'm guessing I missed something here."

Daniel said nothing as he sighed silently to himself. Jack glanced again at the man he had been left with. He said, "Uh, well, any idea what's going on here?"

Glad to not have another opportunity to dwell on what Sam was mentally sending his way, Daniel walked around the laboratory with cautious enthusiasm. He dialled down his enthusiasm somewhat as he realised how inappropriate it could appear to a man whom he had just met. He said,

"I think I may have encountered this before." Daniel frowned as his mind cleared and his hands glowed involuntarily as Jack looked on in confusion. The archaeologist continued to look upwards, and he said, "In the Pegasus galaxy."

"In the _what_ now?"

Daniel eventually realised that he had revealed classified information. He made a mental note – ignoring Sam's vague protests in his head – to apologise to someone at some point when they were all home and dry. But then again, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as glowing in front of someone whom he had only recently met.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Cam put the phone down, a grim expression upon his face. The general was stood behind Sam's desk at the SGC, ever reluctant to sit in her chair. Things tended to go to hell from time to time without him sitting there; who knew what they could face if he jinxed them all? He was too responsible to toy with his friends' lives like that. Too old too, he thought.

He looked at Jack O'Neill who, for once, wasn't fiddling with anything on the desk. The retired general was looking directly at him, his face an emotionless mask as he waited with surprising patience. Cam sighed and Jack's gaze dropped to his feet as though the sigh alone had confirmed something he had already feared and had partially come to terms with.

Cam said quietly, "Comms have gone down in Eureka. We're also getting reports of gradual outages in surrounding areas in the Pacific North-West. Klamath Falls is out too." Cam closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he said, worried, "The Odyssey has even worse news." He paused. "Deep-space telemetry shows a large array of unknown craft heading towards Earth. Torchwood and UNIT have sent over files, and IOA representatives are due in a couple of hours."

Jack froze as the news sank in. He said cautiously, "So... what are we going to do?"

Cam shrugged. He had never shrugged during a moment or time of life and death before. It just wasn't what came to mind. There had always been something to do, however futile it could end up being. Cam said,

"Ain't nothin' left to do but send people in. This isn't coincidence, all this shit happening when those two wander off on their ownsomes; it never is."

Jack asked, worried, "Has T been told?"

"Yup, he'll be here within the hour. Can't go a-rescuin' without him. It just wouldn't be right."

Jack allowed himself the slightest of smiles – they were all going rather than sitting back and watching as other people went after their friends. He said, "My thoughts exactly. Do we have a Mystery Machine?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The TARDIS had landed. One minute, it had all been movement and bumping; the next, it had been silent, almost as though his house had suddenly landed during a twister. He even uttered the almost expected, "Oh!" in surprise when all had finally albeit very suddenly become still. This, he hadn't expected. His navigation screen wasn't particularly helpful either. Dare he open the door and face the unknown?

He glanced to the side for a second in confusion. It was what he always did. With a brief grin, he ran towards the door before stopping as he realised something. He checked his hair in a pocket mirror and then breathed into a cupped hand. He grimaced slightly and then appeared to change his mind after a moment's thought. With a deep breath, he opened the door with a flourish, not really knowing what to expect.

He at least expected that he had taken another detour en route to his intended destination. It was a shock to discover that he was actually where he had intended, although under circumstances far from ideal. He immediately forgot all plans of a dramatic greeting as he sighted forks of white energy crackling all around the empty laboratory at Global Dynamics. He distractedly fished a device out of his pocket and pressed and jabbed at a few buttons.

After a moment, he paused and stared up at what he had seen. He said quietly, "You can't be real. You're older than the universe. What the hell are you doing on a little backwater planet in the Milky Way of all places?"

As he stared upwards, it gradually dawned on him that at some point, he had gained company. He glanced around at the crowd of people that he vaguely recognised but couldn't, at that moment, put names to faces to. The crowd seemed to part, however, and he smiled slightly as none other than Samantha Carter-Jackson appeared; a rather large Samantha Carter-Jackson. He sniffed the air and smiled again – obviously she and Daniel were still hell-bent on populating the planet.

His arms outstretched, he said aloud, "Samantha Carter-Jackson, you are one difficult woman to track down!"

Samantha seemed surprised to see him, and he gradually remembered that the last time that she had seen him might have been one of those moments of closure that humans seemed so desperately to need at times. Oh well, he thought, there would be time for that if he pulled this off and saved the day... again. When she was near enough, he grabbed her hand. He appeared very serious as he looked at her, and he said quietly,

"Samantha, you need to come with me. You're in a lot of danger."

She seemed confused, and she said, "Why?"

"Because you're here." He sighed, knowing that she would need a good explanation after all of the times he had tried to get her to travel with him before. He said, looking at her intensely, "You see, there's this big thing outside of space-time here in Eureka..."

Samantha frowned, and said, "The Artifact."

He paused, surprised. He said, "How do _you_ know about it?"

She looked at him as though he was mad, and he recalled distant days when he had known that expression of hers all too well. Samantha replied, "I've been briefed about it. It's a biological computer that gives off huge amounts of energy. My guess is that it is Alteran or pre-Alteran in design. It is theorised to be an antenna for a theoretical zero-point subspace nexus of all the knowledge in the universe."

The Doctor loved how she could absorb such information but he wished that despite her intelligence, she could see things the way he could; just once, even, especially when there was something big going on; it would be quite helpful. He said,

"Not quite." He became aware of someone moving to her side, and when he focussed on that person, he smiled slowly. He said, "Doctor Fontana! Hello! We haven't met yet... in your timeline." Before Tessa could muster so much as speech, he turned his attention back to Samantha. He said, "Samantha... what these people call 'The Artifact' is actually a prison. The Ancients or the ancient-Ancients, or whoever, designed it to house the most feared thing in the multiverse."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and said, "Right now, you are the most feared thing in the universe. We need to get you and Daniel out of here. The combined forces of this universe are on their way to Earth to get you."

Samantha suddenly froze as she realised what the Doctor had said. She said, "What about my children?"

The Doctor didn't want to speak, but Samantha grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him in anguish. She said, barely keeping control, "_What_ about my children! Where are they?"

The Doctor said regretfully, "All but two of them fell unconscious earlier this afternoon, and communications are down in the area which is why you haven't heard anything." He continued gravely, "Something is coming, Samantha Carter-Jackson, and I need your help."

She closed her eyes and began to glow a bluish-white. However, the glow soon faded and she found herself still standing before the Doctor, a bewildered look on her face. She tried again, but the same thing happened. The Doctor said, "It's too late. I'm sorry."

There was a burst of white light which swamped the entire lab. The Doctor instinctively reached to protect Samantha. However, it was indeed too late. As the light dissolved back into reality, the crackling energy had disappeared. A huge, carved black cube structure loomed behind the gathered people who now turned towards it.

The Doctor tried to reach for Samantha but to no avail. Before he knew it, there were lights and sounds whizzing around his and everyone else's heads. Samantha began to glow again and, as he watched helplessly, she dissolved into a cascade of bluish-white orbs which then seemed to surge into the cube, disappearing without a trace as the carved parts of it emitted a green glow.

The following silence was split by a loud and anguished exclamation. The Doctor was surprised to find that it wasn't his. He and the shocked employees of Global Dynamic turned towards the doorway of the now darkened lab. Daniel was standing in the doorway, his entire body glowing ethereally and providing another source of illumination; the other being the green glow from the edges of the carvings on the box. His eyes glowed a brighter blue as he furiously strode into the lab. The already shocked crowd parted as he walked to the box, and once again, the silence was broken by the scream of a man who had lost everything.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack stopped suddenly in the briefing room, having jogged after a marching Teal'c who hadn't stopped to greet anyone since he had arrived through the Stargate. He arrived to find Cam, Jonas, and Vala already dressed and ready for their upcoming mission. He looked at them in a partially-enquiring sort of way, and Vala smirked. She remarked,

"Oh, we've worked with Teal'c more recently than you have. It's get ready or get left behind."

Cam ran his hand over his hair and grimaced a little when he realised just how shaggy he had let it become. He said, "Well, let's do this. Doctor Sheppard will be here shortly to SGC-sit."

Jack still appeared out of sorts at how quickly everyone had got ready. He said, "We should probably pay her, the number of times she's had to come over." He said suddenly, "How the hell do you guys get changed so quickly?" He peered at Vala curiously. "And you live twenty minutes away."

Vala sneered and said, "Uh, yeah, if you adhere to _your_ speed limit." She glanced at Cam teasingly, the general not looking entirely impressed when he realised what his wife had said.

Jonas glanced at his watch and glanced at somewhere behind Jack and then looked away again. Jack looked at the Kelownan oddly but said nothing. Teal'c turned to look at the retired general and said,

"When..."

Within seconds, the five of them were aboard the Odyssey with a momentarily surprised Teal'c, and everyone else but Jack looking somewhat more surprised. Jack pointed at the Jaffa and said, "You never have to ask." He sat down in the recently vacated command chair and said,

"I miss this thing."

Cam said quietly, "We miss you, Sir..." He paused, correcting himself. "... I mean, Jack."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Doctor had had an excellent day; terrific by his standards. Terrifically bad, that is. It occasionally slipped his mind which words meant 'good' and which meant 'bad'; something that could prove quite fatal, or at least mostly fatal, during his adventures. It was usually his job to save the day. He couldn't even save Samantha after everything she had done for him and the sacrifices he had already made for her.

Right now, he was crouched down in front of an inconsolable Daniel. They were still in the same lab, this time now deserted all except for them and, of course, the huge box thing. He closed his eyes. Naming it would make it real. He sighed softly and then looked at Daniel who appeared to suffering some kind of a breakdown.

The Doctor was still holding onto the archaeologist after said archaeologist had gone from hitting him, to trying to hit him, and then to falling to the ground in his present state. The Time Lord just wished that he could do the same; perhaps it would relieve his burden or maybe it would add to it. The Doctor finally hugged his rival for Samantha's affections.

_Rival_. Well, he certainly wasn't a rival; he was his superior. Time and time again, Samantha had chosen Daniel, yet the Time Lord found himself unable to stay away. Ignoring the stunned people around them, the Doctor rested his head against Daniel's, the archaeologist holding onto him with a surprising force. The Doctor closed his eyes as he thought of a way in which he could help or at least try.


	5. Chapter 5

_There's an extract of a poem somewhere... it's from T. S. Eliot's The Hollow Men. _

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Holy shit! Evasive manoeuvre delta!"

Jack clung onto the armrests of the command chair as the Odyssey sharply turned to avoid being flown into by a strange looking vessel. The retired general frowned as he stared at it, for some reason seeing the strange yet diverse ships in slow motion as he tried to process what he had seen. In all of his years of involvement with the SGC, he had never seen such a sight. The odd ship had threatened Earth, but not half the universe; not that he recalled anyhow.

Mitchell and T were already out, leading a squadron of F302's into what appeared to be a stalemate position for now, with each side waiting for the other to fire. Well, these guys obviously wanted something. He just hoped that his friends weren't those somethings.

Time seemed to slow for Jack as he found himself transfixed by the sight of a strange ship appear to swoop over the Odyssey, just about missing it although setting off the proximity alert. Just when he thought he could slow down, his life tended to throw him a curve-ball and send him back into hell. He smiled ever so slightly. He really did miss SG-1.

The bridge had fallen so quiet, the crew as transfixed as Jack was, that he could hear the various hums and beeps of the computer systems. Perhaps he could hear the engines too; he wasn't sure. Maybe it was just the blood rushing in his ears. He issued an order in vain, just so he could say something – anything – even if Marks was already doing it.

"Monitor all frequencies."

Marks appeared to wake up from his own reverie. He looked at the general, and said distractedly, "Aye, Sir. Already on it."

It was an awful waste of rocket fuel or space fuel or whatever it was, he thought, to sit there above a planet without at least stating intentions or making threats, or God forbid, start firing at something. Those guys were even slower than the Goa'uld although not quite having a flair for the dramatic. He had hated the Goa'uld with an ever burning passion for everything that they had done to him – to his friends – but in a way, he missed them. He frowned slightly – he really was going mad. Hell, he had been certifiable for a long time.

Jack pressed a series of buttons on the arm of his chair. He frowned a little, as though struggling to remember what he was supposed to be pressing. Without being asked, Marks pressed something on his own console before saying quietly,

"Sir, comms frequency open."

Jack nodded, and said aloud, "This is General Jack O'Neill, Commander of the Earth ship Odyssey. You're trespassing in our space. Your presence without justification will be perceived as a threat and will be dealt with accordingly."

Several crew members exchanged discreet glances behind the retired general but said nothing. Everybody soon flinched and shielded themselves as the consoles seemed to erupt in an array of sparks. Jack leapt out of his chair as others moved away from their stations. The general exclaimed in shock,

"Holy sh...!" He looked around himself and then out at the viewscreen where the craft were still hovering in their previous positions. Jack took a deep breath as the smoke settled and all eventually became still.

He spoke quietly, breaking the suspenseful silence. He said, "Obviously they don't want to talk. Must be a monthly thing." He turned back to Marks, and said, worried, "Can we get in touch with Mitchell and T?"

Marks slowly approached his station, shielding himself every so often when the odd spark erupted. He said, "We appear to be down to life support, Sir... everything else is offline." Several of the crew seemed to run about a bit more than they usually did, and Marks continued, "We're on it though, Sir. Give us a couple of hours."

Jack exhaled wistfully. He said, "I don't think we have one hour, let alone a couple, Skip."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Daniel walked through an endless whiteness. He was angry – furious – at what had happened; at what had been allowed to happen. Couldn't he finally live in peace with his family? Why must the universe periodically find a way to brutally torture or rob him of everything that he had? Sam had been the best thing to have ever happened to him and how many times had he lost her already? Perhaps the fault lie with him. It was his duty to protect her and their family in the patriarchal society in which they lived.

But it was all above his head. He knew that something higher up was to blame, and who best to blame than the Ancients; the ones who had started all this nonsense to begin with? He closed his eyes briefly as he remembered something that Sam had told him – albeit with a relieved smile – after another episode involving him being abducted, lost, or subjected to mortal danger.

"_I can't take you anywhere."_

The same was beginning to be true when it came to Sam. What the hell had either of them done in a previous life to deserve the crap that kept re-emerging in this life? He felt, yet again, that this whole prophecy thing that had changed their lives completely, was more trouble than it was worth. It certainly seemed to attract as much trouble.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

All was quiet. He hated quiet. Quiet meant that something was hiding; quiet meant that whatever was to come would be loud... and if there was anything he hated more than quiet was loud. Okay, so he may be lying to himself. He liked surprises – mostly – and surprises tended to be loud, whether in an aural or a visual sense. Surprises – loud or quiet – were all part and parcel of his time travel adventures.

The employees of Global Dynamic had retreated to perhaps a safe distance, or a ridiculously safe distance. It was for the best. There were things that needed to be said that would just end up getting complicated with twenty more enquiring minds around him. He looked up at the large dark cube structure that loomed over him and Daniel. This was going to take some doing.

Daniel was still now. He had stopped crying but was worryingly quiet. Through his acquaintance with the man, and his odd relationship with the man's wife in an alternate timeline, he knew that a quiet Daniel Jackson required more attention than a loud one. At least with a loud or even a verbose one, you knew where you stood... and you also had a good idea of what the man had imbibed. Even he had never previously seen a man as incapable of holding his drink as Daniel Jackson, and he had seen a lot during his life.

The Doctor rested his forehead against Daniel's for the countless time. Despite his condition, the man wasn't making it easy for a nine-hundred-and-too-many year old time traveller to get inside his head. It was both a good and a bad thing; well, more of a frustrating thing for the Doctor. He whispered,

"Daniel, you need to listen to me. I can't do this by myself. I need you to be at least partially on the ball. Sam needs you."

The Doctor glanced up at the large cube that loomed over them. There were times when he could save the day, and then there were times where he had to direct people to become heroes themselves; to discover their inner strength. That was asking a lot of Daniel, he knew, but he couldn't think of another way. The whole Ancient thing was never something he felt entirely comfortable with, and it hadn't helped that his own people, in their last days, had wanted to emulate the Ancients in ascending to another plane of existence in order to exist forever.

Daniel was still unresponsive, so the Doctor continued to speak, hoping that some of it would get through to the archaeologist. The Doctor murmured into Daniel's ear, "The Pandorica was designed as a prison for the most feared thing in the universe. This is the original version designed by the Eternals, a group of pre-evolved Alterans. The Eternals were a race of beings who lived outside of time and space, and were far more advanced than the Alterans could dream of being, although lacking in imagination. This version of the Pandorica was thought to have been merely a myth."

The Doctor looked up once again, and he soon became distracted by the Pandorica. He said quietly, "It's true when they say that they don't make them like they used to. The ultimate prison. You can't even open it from the outside." His attention slowly snapped back to Daniel. "You see, Daniel Jackson, half of Hell and the universe is coming here for this. She's famous, Sam, I mean... and not in a good way. The problem is this..."

He sighed softly. "Do you remember a long time ago – when I was different man – that I told you about the Star of Ma'at; that wars had been fought over it? We are in the midst of one now. Earth has become the battleground. You and she both are still working out what you can do... so she can't control her emotions."

He held Daniel's head in his hands and looked straight at him. "And what do stars do best – other than host nuclear reactions? They shine. In her present state – along with the pregnancy hormones – she could power starships for millennia. When you start exuding energy like that, someone takes notice, and she's been doing it for a long time."

The Doctor became startled when Daniel merely glowed faintly in apparent reply. The glowing gradually increased to such an intensity that the Doctor felt compelled to shield his eyes. Daniel appeared to be encompassed in a large burst of white light, which then contracted and shot towards the ceiling. The Doctor was left – astonished and in the dark – with only the dim light from the complex etchings of the surface of the Pandorica for illumination.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Daniel opened his eyes from the darkness. Where there had been the grim, lonely darkness, there was now a seemingly endless sea of white mist. Despite knowing it to be in vain, he looked around himself, confirming to himself that he was indeed where he was. And then the anger rose and spewed forth when he could not bear it any longer. The Ancients had caused him nothing but pain for as long as he had known of them.

He shouted into the silent yet roaring oblivion. "You took her from me! You bastards!"

Balls of golden-white energy surged around his hands. This time, nothing was going to stop him; no quiet persuasions from a father-in-law whom he now seldom saw. This time, he would give them no warning; they had given him no warning of what was to come, and they must have known; they had always known.

He ignored the howls and the screams as he unleashed his furious might upon that plane of existence. A rushing wind whipped around him as he stood in the centre of destruction, his eyes exuding all of the anger, frustration and grief that he had never expressed in his life; the things he had never said or even divulged to Sam; the things he had at the time just taken in his stride.

The white turned into black and back again repeatedly as the howls grew louder. A small part of him; the rational part of his mind that was left, was screaming at him to stop, that what he was doing was wrong. But Daniel Jackson wasn't going to be rational today; not after what had been allowed to happen.

He stopped however when fire blazed all around him; flames towering far above him. For some reason, he found himself whispering the lines of an old poem. 'This is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a whimper...'

The flames morphed into the shapes of what appeared to be people. The flames melted back into whiteness and he was dimly aware that the figures were still there, even if he couldn't quite see them any longer. One figure, however, developed further and further, until, with a gasp, he recognised it.

Or rather, _him_.

Skaara of Abydos. Sha're's brother. Daniel stared at the young man; the young man with a flaming sword. He seemed to be slightly older than he remembered him being; somewhat careworn and wiser as though bestowed with knowledge far beyond his. Skaara wore cream and very light brown robes, his black dreadlocks cascading down his shoulders. Skaara smiled slightly at Daniel, and said, "Dan'el."

Daniel appeared confused as he regarded the man who was his brother-in-law through his first wife. He walked around the Abydonian as something eventually dawned on him. Daniel said, "I remember." He nodded. "Yes, I remember now. I thought I had all my memories back from that time, but I didn't. They thought that I had ascended you... and it was Oma."

Skaara nodded solemnly, and Daniel said, still confused, "How have you been?"

Skaara shrugged hesitantly, a gesture he had remembered copying from Daniel a long time ago. He said, "I have been well. I have watched you; father and I have watched you and your friends."

Tears ran down Daniel's cheeks as he finally opened himself up to the grief that he had pushed down deep inside for a very long time. Sam had tried to share it but it wasn't hers to have. But there was another reason. He had allowed himself to move on, and now, with all those years undone, he became crippled with guilt; guilt for not being able to save Sha're; guilt for carrying on; guilt for surviving.

With so many conflicting emotions, he sank to his knees in despair and overwhelming grief. He covered his head with his hands, feeling so very lost. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he hesitantly looked up to see Skaara crouching down so that he was level with him. Skaara smiled, a long held sadness in the gesture. He said softly,

"Dan'el, do not be sad. You gave my sister happiness in her last days; you gave us all happiness, and you protected Abydos from the stars."

Daniel shook his head, and said, "But I couldn't protect either. I failed. I failed as her husband; as your brother, and as Kasuf's son. And now, I'm living a life that she can never have."

"What happened, happened. Sha're has never truly left you or any of us. It was never your doing; you could not have foreseen what would have happened. It was you who taught us that seeking knowledge is good and that exploration is part of what makes us human. Through this, we learn. If it had never happened, would you have learned of the Goa'uld? Would you have learned of the rest of the universe? Would you have achieved all that you have?"

Skaara sighed. "I will always miss my sister, as will you, but life must go on. You are happy again; you and Samantha. She knows all that you are and all that you will be... but she does not know all that you were. You should not be scared; you will never forget Sha're."

Skaara paused, and said, troubled, "You must learn to control your impulses. I know that you are angry now, but killing is not your way."

Daniel felt lost but found at the same time. He said softly, "I keep losing Sam. I don't want to lose her like I did Sha're." He raised a hand, as though he was about to resume what he had intended to do. He then shook his head when nothing happened, and he lowered his gaze. "And now I know that you're here, I can't do anything. I've lost Sam forever."

Skaara smiled suddenly, as though tickled by Daniel's attitude. Daniel peered at him in bewilderment, and the Abydonian stroked Daniel's cheeks. He said, "Dan'el, you are the best brother that I could have prayed for. _You_ can do something... but what _we_ can do is limited. You must find one borne of the same loins as your bride. Only he can open the Pandorica."

Daniel frowned, and then said, surprised, "Mark? Her brother? … Really?"

Skaara turned around, as though looking for someone. Jacob Carter emerged from the figures that Daniel wasn't sure if he could see or not. Wearing brown trousers and a cream ribbed sweater, Jacob stepped forward and embraced his son-in-law. Jacob appeared deeply worried as he regarded Daniel. He said,

"Daniel, you have to help my Sammy." He paused as though reluctant. He said, "Sam has another brother; one she doesn't know about." His sadness seemed to visibly deepen. "Her mother probably had an inkling though. It was the Fall of '68, and I was stationed in Fresno..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It had been a long day for Sheriff Carter; a day full of all manner of things incomprehensible, and which just refused to end. He couldn't begin to understand what had happened; all he knew was that things had happened way too fast, and that even his wife couldn't explain it. Good. He would feel totally stupid if she knew what was going on _all_ the time, although right now, it would have helped. It would certainly help to explain why there was a whopping great black cube thing in her lab, and where General Jackson went. He closed his eyes as he remembered something with tremendous force.

He wondered why the box had been familiar. He had dreamt about it. He couldn't remember the details, but there had been a man's voice, and a pair of blue eyes looking at him through white light. Why he couldn't have normal dreams or just a normal day was beyond him. Even if he seldom liked admitting it, he was getting used to the weirdness that seemed to fill every waking – and even slumbering – moment.

He opened his eyes again to find that most of the scientists were gone, with only Tessa left. Tessa looked at him in concern, asking, "Jack? Are you okay?"

Jack sighed tiredly and said, "We're gonna need that vacation after all."

Tessa hugged him, and said reassuringly, "Just as soon as the latest mishap here is over, we can run away."

He held onto her and closed his eyes. "Good. I like running away."

He became aware of a flash of light. He opened his eyes, and he and Tessa stared in bewilderment at a group of people who were dressed in military gear, some of whom he recognised. He looked at the leader of the group and said,

"General O'Neill?"

O'Neill quickly retorted albeit wearily, "Retired." He paused briefly. "I need to find Daniel and Carter. They're in danger... again." O'Neill rolled his eyes as he said that last part.

Tessa was about to reply when Jack said, confused, "_Carter_?"

Tessa hissed at him, "Sam. He means _Sam_."

Jack pointed in the direction of Tessa's lab, not knowing how to explain what was going on; not knowing where to begin. O'Neill's team armed themselves and pushed past Jack and Tessa. Perhaps those guys had some idea of what was happening. Jack was about to follow them when he noticed that Tessa had left his side and was now at a computer, the astrophysicist frowning.

That was something else that made him feel helpless; there were things going through her head that he couldn't even begin to understand. Nonetheless, he said, "What?"

Tessa raised an eyebrow as though intrigued by something she had read. She said, eventually looking up at him, "The readings from the Artifact are even crazier than before. It seems to be channelling energy to the... uh, box in my lab. I'm not detecting a significant build-up of power so the building is safe for the moment. Perhaps this is what the Artifact was designed for."

Jack said cautiously, "That's good... right? I mean, you know, finding out what that thing does..."

"Sure... although this seems way over even our heads." She tapped a few buttons on the keyboard, and said, "Priority now is a full evacuation of Global Dynamic. We still don't know what the Artifact does exactly."

Jack nodded, snapping into action. He always liked it when there was something that he could do. He grabbed his torch and used the end of it to set off the fire alarm. Tessa looked up at him sharply, and he looked at her quizzically.

"What?"

Tessa sighed as the sound of the fire alarm filled the room. She shook her head and got up to follow him out of the room. There were rules and regulations that they had to follow. She knew what he would have said, however, had he been able to hear her above the incessant din.

"My way is quicker."

They both froze in the doorway on seeing a bright flash of light from the other lab, like a slow explosion. The doorway appeared to buckle as though it was seen through an extreme heat haze. Jack grabbed Tessa's hand and instinctively ran for the nearest emergency exit as his horrified wife could do nothing but stare in shock, and eventually, run.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

There was a stand-off. Cameron Mitchell hadn't been on SG-1 for as long as the others, excluding his wife, but he had been involved in enough stand-offs to know that he didn't like them; especially when facing enemies he had only read about from files that the British government had handed over. It was disheartening in a way; he had thought that he and his friends had seen most of the universe, or at least most of the known universe; and now here he was faced with so much more. How much more was there out there? How many more races and species? It certainly was teaching him a lesson about growing complacent.

At the centre of the stand-off was a whopping great black cube carved with things that appeared pretty but made little sense. To his amateur-ish eye, he thought that it looked Alteran in design. If only Jackson was with them. The Doctor was there, however. On sighting him initially, nobody had recognised him. The Doctor had only just finished a rather protracted monologue about his change in appearance when hell and half of Georgia had decided to drop in on them.

Cam surmised the names of most of the races present based on physical descriptions and photographs in various files. Teal'c and Vala recognised some of them too and enlightened their team-mates. With gun in hand, he eyed his surroundings. There were Daleks, which resembling pepper pots with sink plungers and whisks for what he imagined to be arms. He could only imagine despite the stony expression on the older general's face what nicknames Jack could create for them.

There were Cybermen. For lack of words in his present situation, he could only think of them as metal men. They clunked and whirred as they walked, and sounded monotonous; not quite as multi-tonal or insane as the Daleks, but about as dangerous in his eyes.

The Goa'uld. Cam found himself instinctively moving closer to his wife. He didn't need to look at her to know that she was scared. The Goa'uld had had a profound effect on his friends, and not in a positive sense.

The Sycorax; he vaguely remembered one invading Jackson's house. If Captain Jack had not been there... he shuddered to think what could have happened.

There were a vast panoply of races that he could only guess at, albeit distractedly. Everyone was speaking at once: threats, shouts, jibes, and challenges. The air was rife with the sounds of weapons being loaded; ammunition being dropped, and so many people speaking at once.

Suddenly, all was silent and everybody's focus was drawn to the Doctor. He was standing in front of the box – the Pandorica as named by the various aliens in their demands – with his hands in the air, his arms outstretched. Cam became aware that the Doctor had yelled something, and a tiny part of him admired that quality in the Time Lord; to be heard, regardless. Somehow, he imagined, that quality of the Doctor's wouldn't be enough to be heard over his and Vala's kids.

The Doctor looked around everybody who had fallen silent. He was standing in between them and the Pandorica. He strode in front of it, making his point and chastising the aliens. He said, "... you're making a huge mistake; all of you. The Star of Ma'at is of no danger to you..."

One of the Daleks sharply interrupted, the bulbs on its head lighting up while it spoke. It said, "Calculations show that the gestational White Fay has enough power to destroy the universe. We have been monitoring Earth for a long period. The Alliance was formed with races from across the universe to stop the threat. The Pandorica must be cast into the void."

The Doctor sighed and for one brief moment, it seemed to Cam that the man carried the universe upon his shoulders; starlight in his eyes. In that moment, he seemed older than he physically appeared. Cam mentally shook himself, briefly wondering what had been in his breakfast omelette. The Time Lord spoke once again, his head bowed.

"But you don't have the right!" The Doctor raised his head, his eyes cold with fury. "Do you understand what you're doing? Can you comprehend the sheer magnitude of the situation? You put the Star of Ma'at – the White Fay or whatever you want to call her – you put her into the void, that won't be the end of your problems. No, the void will fracture and you will put all universes at risk. The whole of reality will be destroyed... and that won't be before what the Guardian will unleash upon you."

A Cyberman stepped – or, rather, clunked – forward, and spoke in a monotonous voice. It said, "The Eternals designed the structure to house the most dangerous creation in the universe."

A Dalek interrupted the Cyberman, and continued, "Our combined projections show that the end is imminent if the White Fay is not imprisoned. Our chance of continued existence has greatly increased, and will increase further when we cast the Pandorica into the void space."

The Doctor yelled, startling all present, "BUT YOU'RE WRONG!" He quickly lowered his voice so that it was relatively calmer. He looked at each and every one around him with an intensity of a thousand suns. He said, "Samantha is no threat to you. In fact, the Samantha Carter-Jackson that I once knew would have been the only one to have shown you mercy."

He and then the others looked towards the ceiling. As though on cue, there was a sudden surge of bright white light. It seemed to spread like flames across the ceiling before rushing to the ground in human form. Before them stood Daniel, dressed in a creamy white hooded robe with a long gold panel down the front of it. The hood was over his head but his friends still noticed that his hair was noticeably grey at his temples.

Teal'c said in acknowledgement, "DanielJackson."

Daniel glanced in his friends' direction. He then raised his hands which now glowed with a pulsing surge of golden-white energy. He glowered at the assembled ranks of the members of the so-called 'Alliance'. He burst into a ring of white flames that encircled the Pandorica. A voice rang out, not sounding totally like Daniel's; an unearthly sound.

"I am the Guardian; the guardian of the Pandorica. Leave while I still have mercy."


	6. Chapter 6

_Sorry for how long it's taken me to write this; having a mixture of story and writer's block. Hopefully my brain will slip into gear soon. _

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

He was in the midst of a sea of faces; some of them concerned – most just thinking it was a fire drill. Jack Carter, if he cared to admit it himself, tried not to interact with the vast majority of the employees of Global Dynamics beyond a 'hello' or 'hey' or even a brief nod or a glance. The fact that he had to due to his wife's job as head of the company was something he tried not to dwell upon; at least, not too much. Also, crazy things seemed to happen on an almost hourly basis further requiring interaction with his wife's colleagues. Some days, he wondered why he even bothered to get out of bed.

But now, it was as though he was living one of his regular nightmares. There were so many of them; not least Fargo. He tried not to hate people, and it was quite easy to when they weren't focussed on him or when they were quiet. Sometimes, certain people just caught him off-guard; in the wrong kind of mood to warrant natural civility. What made him want to hurt Fargo sometimes was that, one: somehow, the latest crisis sometimes had something to do with him; two: he was just annoying, and three: the guy was brilliant and he actually secretly liked him for that and more. After all, Fargo had designed his artificially intelligent house, S.A.R.A.H, who or which he couldn't imagine life without now, as amazingly insanely annoying as she or it could be sometimes.

If only Fargo didn't bumble so much.

He looked around at the faces, the sheriff fastidiously ignoring enquiries. He looked up at his wife who was stood on a raised platform, her face scrutinising the crowd and then a clipboard she held. After a while, he asked, "All accounted for?"

She slowly nodded, and then looked at him albeit distractedly. She said, "Yep."

Jack then said, frowning, "Evacuating everyone to the basement is not an evacuation; it's just goin' downstairs."

Tessa sighed, not totally convinced herself. She said, "Jack, it's the safest place on Earth."

"What if that thing's not from Earth?"

She rolled her eyes, and he said defensively, "Tess, don't give me that. We've seen a lot of things today. I never thought I'd say this but they were far weirder than the stuff I've seen during my time in Eureka, and that's saying a lot."

Jack looked up towards the ceiling, feeling left out from the action in the sound-and-everything-else-proofed bunker. He may have been getting on in years but Jack Carter was Jack Carter; if there was action going, he wanted a part of it, even if the type of action in Eureka tended to mess with his head every so often; even if the action above his head was something he had never encountered before. He just felt that he should be out there doing something rather than doing nothing.

The enquiries continued to such a degree that Jack could ignore them no longer. He joined Tessa on the platform and said, "Look, I don't know what's going on either..." When the barrage of questions refused to cease, Jack yelled, waving his arms, "Zip it!"

When silence fell, Jack continued, annoyed, "I know as much as you do right now, so it is really not helping if you keep prodding me!"

His former deputy – and current head of security for Global Dynamic – Jo Lupo, moved in front of the platform so that she was visible to most of the crowd. She folded her arms across her chest and looked at them challengingly, as though silently spoiling for a fight. Jack couldn't see her face from where he was but he greatly albeit accurately suspected that she would relish the opportunity for a one-on-one or a one-on-five and he didn't want to give her the opportunity – mostly because of the paperwork involved. He sighed to himself. Whatever the hell was happening above their heads was going to need decades of paperwork. Sometimes – nay, all of the time – he hated bureaucracy.

He paused momentarily. After all the years that had passed since Jo's change in jobs, he still thought of her as his deputy. He smirked slightly. It would all be on Tessa's head if Jo decided to pick a fight. Jack mentally shook himself and was plunged back into the matter at hand. Some of the scientists were right; they couldn't stay like this forever. But he couldn't risk anyone getting hurt or worse, paperwork notwithstanding, killed.

Jack grabbed the torch off his belt and looked down at Tessa. She looked at him, regret in her eyes but she said nothing. This was the way it tended to be between them. Instead of preventing him from leaving, she gently touched his forearm and said softly, "At least take Jo with you this time. She's got enough frustration within her to take down a herd of elephants."

Jack gently kissed her, and whispered, "I love you too."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Back at the SGC, Carolyn, House, and Cassie stood at the ends of three beds which had been put together. On them, five of the affected Carter-Jackson children were asleep, each of them being monitored by a variety of equipment. House sighed aloud, and said grouchily,

"This places fucks me in the head sometimes."

Carolyn said nothing – she hadn't the heart to even chastise his use of bad language. She just watched the five children sombrely, silently hoping that there would be a deus ex machina at some point. She had run out of things she could do other than keep them hydrated and as comfortable as possible. The whole Ancient thing had generally been over her head from the get-go. But there were children involved, and, as a mother herself, she was more than emotionally compromised; not forgetting that these children were almost siblings to her son.

Cassie watched the children sadly, and looked down at her swollen abdomen. Was this how she would feel if her own child were in danger? Would her child put her through this or a more normal equivalent of this? She felt that she understood in a way how Sam and Daniel felt about their brood now that she was about to have a child of her own. She had already identified with Sam because due to the Naquadah in both their bloodstreams, neither of them would ever be able to have a blood test or give birth in a civilian hospital.

Cassie said softly, "We've lost contact with everyone; even the Odyssey. It's all up to Sam and Daniel now... or even the Doctor."

House added, "Well, it's clear these brats aren't going to help." When Carolyn looked at him sharply, House grabbed a file folder from nearby. He flipped through it before giving it to her. He said, "Their brain activity has significantly decreased since they were brought in. I'm thinking that maybe all those ships up there have something to do with it."

Carolyn looked through the file and said, "They've been in trance-like states before, when Sam accidentally crossed over into another universe. But their brain activity before they disappeared then was significantly higher than their normal brain activity. Also, that time, James and Cameron were involved too."

Cassie asked, curious, "How come they're not affected; Cammie and Jimmy?"

Carolyn looked at House. House seemed pensive for once as he considered the evidence and his own theories. He said, "They were conceived when Jackson and Jackson were still vaguely normal human beings. From what I recall of the file pertaining to the kids when Jackson number two disappeared, the glowy kids were using the non-glowy ones as a conduit... or an extension to their network."

Cassie appeared to realise something as Carolyn's frown deepened. Cassie said, horrified, "So, this isn't their doing?"

"Bingo. The pregnant alien gets a point."

"What I mean is that there is outside influence – possibly the ships that NORAD detected a few hours ago. Jack did say something about knocking the guards out before taking the place. But how... and why?"

House turned back to watch the children. He replied grimly, "Elementary, my dear gestating colleague; those are the sixty four thousand dollar questions."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sam felt that all too familiar freeness of being a floating mass of energy. She had had enough practice with Daniel to know what she was now. But at the same time, she felt trapped. She wasn't sure what was happening, except that she felt trapped between different states of being; different universes even. It was as though she was stuck in between two things rather than being in one or the other. It was so cold; the type of coldness she had never experienced in her entire life, and lonely. She had been lonely at different parts of her life but it felt all-consuming, as though she was a personification of each emotion that rose to the surface.

She couldn't even speak; all she could do was think, and her thoughts rang out in the empty ether with almost an echo to them. She didn't know what had happened to her; what had caused her to be in this state from which she couldn't escape. For once, she decided to leave it in the hands of someone she knew would come for her every time.

Daniel.

He would never give up; even if it meant destroying heaven and earth to find her. She sighed softly into the endless, starless night. His determination sometimes left her in despair; there were times that he was so blind that he went against his own principles. She didn't want to be the cause of him losing sight of who he was. He had already lost sight of that a number of times during the time she had known him, and he seemed such a better person for finding himself.

"Daniel," she silently whispered into the night. If only he could hear her; if only he could know of all the things she had never said to him; the things she would inevitably forget to say to him until the next time they lost one another. Whatever had happened, Daniel might still be in danger, and their babies too.

She became aware of another mass of energy nearby. It was much smaller and she felt immediately protective of it. If she was in human form, she would have closed her eyes. Her baby. At least he or she was okay, but it was far from desirable circumstances. The hopelessness that Sam felt soon gave way to determination. She had someone she could actively try to protect.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

SG-1 and the multitude of alien races stared as the glowing ring of light around the Pandorica seemed to engulf it just as two people entered the scene. Many shielded their eyes or light-sensitive equivalent as the black cube seemed to turn into a huge spinning orb of golden-white light. It spun, faster and faster, until suddenly it shot through the ceiling. The latest arrivals were also engulfed in the same light and as they shielded their eyes. They then looked around in confusion and then at one another. They too shot through the ceiling, leaving the rest plunged into an unearthly darkness.

After a brief albeit stunned silence, the races of the universe turned on one another. Accusations flew forth, each either accusing the other of dirty tricks and/or defending themselves from such accusations. And then the first weapon was discharged. All hell soon broke loose, and those who hadn't already been killed ducked behind computers and various items of equipment to use them as firing positions. The air was full of smoke and was alight with the rapid discharge of various weapons from across the universe.

A Dalek's voice rang out, "You will surrender the Pandorica! Surrender! Surrender!"

SG-1 drew closer to one another as the others closed in on them. For the countless time in their respective long and varied careers, each of them felt that same feeling of the end of the road. Tiny parts of them almost laughed, recalling the number of times that they had each come through far worse adversity and lived... but then there was the ever present fear that each time would be the last. There was no visible way out; no way to save the day. Unbeknownst to them, they shared the fearful sentiments of their universal neighbours – whatever was happening was far above their heads and beyond their comprehension. Even the Doctor looked stumped.

But silence soon would fall. The ceiling erupted in a brilliant blaze of white and pale gold flame, the flames spreading until they engulfed the entire ceiling and the tops of the walls. In places, the flames were almost touching people's heads but neither burned nor scarred. The assembled ranks of the universe at last fell silent, weapons forgotten as many clattered to the floor. Even the Daleks were too stunned to speak.

An entire legion of Jaffa who had previously been firing like there had been no tomorrow, silently but quickly dropped on one knee in reverence and perhaps fear of the sight. Some of the other races followed suit, those races who saw ascension as the natural progression from corporeal life. Teal'c – like his friends and almost everyone else – stared up at the sight in amazement and admittedly, bewilderment.

He may have left his family and everything he had ever known to fight 'false gods', but he still respected some of the religious practices he had grown up with; the stories and the rites of passage. Teal'c said in an awed whisper,

"The Ancients are here."

Jack remarked, awed himself, "About time... not that I trust these em-effers anyhow."

The Doctor got to his feet from where he had previously been hiding next to Jonas Quinn. The Doctor was considerably relieved that the firing had stopped as he had been tempted to join in. Sometimes, his dark past caught up with him and he knew more than anybody that it was very easy to slip back into old habits. But there was an intervention. Regardless of the nature of it, it was certainly about time. And truth be told, he had grown weary of the squabbles of the races who were mere babies compared to what he was capable of; of what his people had once been.

Flames shot down from the ceiling, appearing to form a pillar where the Pandorica had been. The Doctor moved closer to it, a childlike curiosity evident in his facial expression and his manner. He ignored the muted protests from SG-1 as he neared the pillar, gazing up at the brilliant yet pulsing light. He had long been fascinated by all things shiny; bright and pulsating all that much more.

With a surging rush, the pillar appeared to detach from the ceiling, and then dissolve into a human form. The Doctor reached out to touch the flames, finding them cool to the touch. He stepped back a little, still mesmerised as the flames faded and morphed into a female who looked familiar to most of the assembled ranks of the corporeal might of the universe.

Oma Desala, the Ancient who had helped Daniel to ascend the first time around. She wore a simple white dress that seemed to softly melt like snow into the surrounding darkness. She glowed almost as brightly as the flames that continued to engulf the ceiling with a prolonged rushing noise. She slightly smiled upon seeing the Doctor, and said,

"Time Lord."

She casually regarded the different alien races around the room. For once, she didn't speak cryptically; initially at least. She said, "The assembled ranks of the lower plains. In other circumstances, your coming together would be a sign of great progress and beauty."

She surrounded the others in a soft mist as the clamour grew once more, and she turned to look at SG-1 and the Doctor. She said with a faint smile, "The Star is not lost yet seeks to be found. For a star to shine, it must be observed otherwise can it shine?"

Jack was about to speak but thought better of it. He looked at Cam, who seemed surprised that he was being deferred to by someone far more qualified to do his job than he was. Cam cleared his throat and said,

"How do we find her?"

Oma continued to smile in that mysterious way of hers. "Seek, and ye shall find..."


	7. Chapter 7

One minute, Jack Carter and Jo Lupo were investigating the latest oddity together – just like old times – the next, they had been mysteriously transported somewhere else; somewhere much more else. Jack's first thought was 'Canada' upon sighting the greenery. There were huge trees as far as the eye could see in several directions. In one particular direction, however, he sighted large mountains, also covered in greenery. In the foreground – in what appeared to be a valley – there appeared to be a small settlement of sorts. Or one big building; he couldn't be quite sure. One look towards a just as stunned and confused Jo revealed that she too had no idea. That was comforting; for once, it wasn't just him who hadn't the faintest clue regarding the situation that they had found themselves in.

He tried to speak, unable to comprehend just how they had got to where they were without any sort of comprehensible – or at least memorable – form of travel in between. He said, albeit falteringly, "What...? How...?"

Jo slowly shrugged, her eyes fixed on the building or buildings that Jack had sighted. She said, sounding guardedly spooked, "I don't know... but I think we should see if we can get some help."

"That could be a start."

They started walking towards the building in the distance, both silently yet automatically arming their sidearms. Jack glanced at Jo, his former deputy appearing to be deep in concentration. He glanced at her again. When he looked away again, Jo said albeit distractedly,

"I'm not coming back."

Jack looked mildly disappointed as they continued to walk. He said, surprised at first, "Worth a try." He sighed. "It's not the same without you, Jo. Plus, you practically do the same thing you used to with me but with a major pay cut."

She said, her teeth clenched, "It's not about the money."

He inclined his head as though half-heartedly shrugging. He said, "I know what it's about. You expected a lot more from going into security and now you're too stubborn to admit that you were wrong." When he noticed that Jo was glaring at him, Jack added, "Uh, well, _misguided_ anyhow."

Jo snapped, "Can we stop talking about me and focus on what the hell is happening here? Carter, need I remind you of what the hell just happened? We've been transported somewhere, and..." She grabbed her phone, looking hopefully initially until realising something once she had grabbed Jack's phone and radio too. , "... and we can't contact anyone." She sighed, trying not to give up. "Shit."

Jack said quietly, "I blame the box."

Jo looked at him curiously but said nothing. He continued to speak as they hopped across stepping stones in a rushing stream. He said, "All the weird tends to happen in bunches. The box plus this equals one bunch... or several bunches. Should be used to it by now but I don't think I'll ever be."

Jo muttered under her breath, "You bet."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

In a candlelit chamber, the Pandorica loomed over a mildly indifferent monk clad in an orange robe. Around it, the circle of golden-white energy slowly rotated, occasionally rushing as it blazed brightly. The monk stooped to light a butter lamp before straightening up and calmly regarding the Pandorica. He gently touched the surface of the prison, whispering,

"_The purpose of a fishtrap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten... but when the fish continue to sing, the trap is brighter than the stars in the sky._"

Only then did the monk appear the remotest bit troubled. He left the chamber, leaving behind the sound of rushing energy and the gentle electronic hum of the Pandorica. Daniel – meanwhile – in the form of the circle of rushing energy, repeatedly tried to find some way of gaining entrance to the prison which held his bride. He could only feel her – her and their unborn child – very faintly and that – amongst other more glaring things – troubled him deeply; _panicked_ him in everything but verb.

What use were his abilities if he couldn't open a simple box? Oh, it may have whirred and hummed, but it was still a box in the grand scheme of things, but he was supposed to be a being of incredible cosmic power. Ever since they – he and Sam – had acquired their abilities, it had led them to the brink of death – sometimes to death itself – and back again. It had put them all in danger – their children and their friends. It was beyond ridiculous, living out some stupid Alteran and/or cosmic prophecy.

_If_ they made it home and dry after this particular escapade, they were going to have a serious talk about a decision that had always been on the cards. For the time being, it was best, he felt, to attempt to protect his children by stripping them of their abilities so they didn't attract the unwanted attention currently focussed on Sam. Sam would probably kill him, but she would also probably understand; he had done what had had to do to ensure the safety of the rest of their family. It was damage limitation for his own shortcomings. He should have seen this coming.

He needed help and he didn't know who turn to. There was no-one. He highly suspected that this was beyond even the Doctor's broad expertise. Something was changing; something he couldn't quite describe or understand, but something was definitely happening or on the verge of happening.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Doctor wanted nothing more or better than to jump into his TARDIS and flee. There was something; a little thing, but a thing nonetheless. It was in the back of his mind, almost a reflex, telling him to run. Something was coming; well, not quite. It was as though something was changing, so in a way it was a though something was coming: that something being change. He had once inspired a song about the coming of change... but that was a story for another day, he thought.

But his TARDIS was light years away, in a purportedly secure and top secret military base on a little blue, green, and white planet in the backwaters of the Milky Way. For the umpteenth time, he was up a certain creek without a paddle. For almost as many times – the precise frequency being unbeknownst to his companions in this particular timeline – he was with SG-1, going wherever even the vaguest clue pointed.

The vague clue at that particular juncture was the appearance of Oma Desala. He had a working knowledge of Jaffa folklore, and remembered a story he had heard at the academy as a young student. There was a planet that the Jaffa believed held directions of how to get to the afterlife for those of their number who could no longer bear a symbiote. Of course, since the advent of tretonin usage in place of symbiotes – and, of course, the decline of the Goa'uld – few Jaffa actually believed the old stories any longer.

He had only to mention it and Jonas Quinn had rapidly dialled the 'gate, much to the Time Lord's initial surprise, before he recalled stories that Samantha Carter had once told him. These people weren't a stranger to Kheb evidently. It was a disappointment in a way – a knock to his ego – to not have them stare at him in amazement. Damn it, that was all he asked of them sometimes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Back at the SGC, there appeared to be an emergency, judging by the number of soldiers running around, with scientists and other personnel looking either lost or unsure of what to do. The Stargate had an active event horizon which remained visible despite Walter's best efforts to close the Iris. Elizabeth Sheppard stood behind Walter's chair in the control room, a troubled look on her face as she folded her arms across her chest.

She said, "Try the Odyssey again."

Walter tapped a few buttons and then looked dismayed. He said, "Sorry, Ma'am; I can't establish contact."

"Run a diagnostic."

Walter sighed softly. He had done the same thing many times; there just wasn't anything that could explain what was going on. From all his years of sitting in his chair, doing his job, he knew that there must be some kind of explanation somewhere for it, but right now, he was coming up with zilch.

He glanced backwards as Sheppard entered the control room. The colonel, appearing perplexed, stood next to his wife. He said, "Any news?"

Elizabeth glanced at him and said, "Not one iota." She shook her head, worry evident in her eyes. "We can't manually cut power to the 'gate either; the radiation levels are way beyond acceptable levels."

"There must be something!" Sheppard smiled briefly and raised a finger as though he had had a flash of inspiration. He said, looking at Elizabeth, "Rodney!"

Elizabeth appeared grave. "We haven't been able to close the event horizon to be able to redial. It's been like this for at least two hours. It shouldn't even be possible."

Sheppard muttered under his breath, "Damn."

They're attention was sharply drawn to Walter as the gate technician released a sharp breath. Walter said, surprised, "Uh-oh. Power is surging to the 'gate..." He looked down at the dark gateroom, illuminated only by the rippling blue light emitted by the active event horizon, and the comparatively dimmer light of the TARDIS which stood to the right of the 'gate. He said, almost gulping, "And I've been locked out of the computer."

Elizabeth and Sheppard shared a look, before Sheppard quickly peered over the technician's shoulder, trying – in vain – to see if there was anything that could be done. Walter was saying something but it was lost in what came next. A huge explosion ripped through the Stargate and through the gateroom, engulfing the TARDIS. Sheppard yelled something at Walter but all the gate technician could do – like Elizabeth, and ultimately like Sheppard – was to stare out as the explosion closed in on them.

Suddenly, it appeared as though the previous few minutes' events played themselves out backwards, as though unwinding. The same thing happened over and over, the players none the wiser to what appeared to be happening. Elizabeth Sheppard stood behind Walter's chair in the control room, a troubled look on her face as she folded her arms across her chest.

In the Infirmary, Cassie looked in on the seven Carter-Jackson children, the elder two being kept with the rest of their siblings in the absence of their parents. They appeared to be sleeping soundly and she smiled slightly, almost feeling as though the act of looking in on them was a portent for her own future. Her smile naturally vanished as she thought of the predicament they appeared to be in, and the uncertainty surrounding their parents' wellbeing and of what could happen.

She smoothed her bump as she felt her unborn child move for the umpteenth time. She left the isolation room where the Carter-Jacksons were sleeping, and walked across the main Infirmary. She sighted House who appeared to be studying her. She said, bemused,

"House?"

He was about to reply when she closed her eyes suddenly and clutched her abdomen. House appeared momentarily awkward before rushing – albeit slowly – to her aid as she appeared to shed water onto the floor. She gasped as he held her upright, and she said, panicked, "You have to call Simon; please! It's too early."

As in the gateroom, events appeared unwind, resuming as Cassie looked in on the Carter-Jacksons.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

SG-1, and the Doctor, once more found themselves faced with the Pandorica. They were in a chamber that Jack and Teal'c both remembered, although the former vaguely so. What had been almost as surprising as the Pandorica in general had been the presence of Sheriff Carter and Jo Lupo on an alien world. It had almost sent Jonas into a headspin, feeling the need as he had to cover for Daniel and Sam.

The ring of light around the Pandorica had long vanished. The Doctor looked at the box that held his one-time companion, inconspicuously glancing at the Sheriff and his former deputy. Jack gently kicked the box occasionally as he slowly circumambulated the box, as though sizing it up and gauging whether C4 would fail them in their hour of need.

Vala asked, pouting ever so slightly, "Why are we on Kheb? It's not exactly _unknown_."

Teal'c spoke softly, the heady atmosphere created by the butter lamps and the ancientness around him giving him cause to feel a sense of awe. Despite his life's mission to fight against false gods, Kheb had remained a holy place to him. He had long ago envisaged coming to this place when he could no longer carry a prim'ta. The fact that he no longer required a prim'ta thanks to tretonin gave him also a sense of foreboding.

He said, "It is defended. Perhaps DanielJackson brought Samantha here in order to purchase some time in which he could open the Pandorica."

Jack quipped albeit wearily, "Or so he could try and decipher the shit on the outside. I swear, glowy or not, Space Monkey is the same as he'll ever be."

The Doctor stopped walking as he neared an increasingly puzzled Sheriff and Jo. The Time Lord peered at Jo initially, before peering at Jack Carter. He stared at Jack Carter the longer, as though seeing something he hadn't before. He said,

"If Daniel brought the Pandorica here, he brought you two here. He must have brought you for a reason. There's something about you, Jack. Something quite peculiar." The Doctor strolled away from them before turning back to face them. He said to Carter,

"Tell me, Sheriff Jack Carter, did you ever know your father?"

Carter suddenly appeared quite defensive, his body stiffening as he had faced a question he hadn't ever really dealt with. Jo glanced at him, and then looked at him properly albeit in confusion when she realised just how tense he had got. She said,

"Carter?"

The Doctor continued, "Jack Carter, the man who never knew his father and spent his whole life protecting others the way he couldn't be protected."

There was a lump in Jack Carter's throat. He tried hard to swallow past it but to no avail. Dammit, this strange man had looked straight through him despite years of burying his past and his insecurities and most other things. He said tightly, "That's enough."

"But there was a reason. Time is a complicated thing, you see. There are fixed points, and then there are all the wibbly-wobbly unfixed points in between. The fixed points are the ones that are unalterable..." The Doctor appeared grave suddenly. "... which can't and should not be changed unless you're an insecure Time Lord on the brink of losing everything."

Jack Carter stared at him, confused once again. He said, "What the hell are you talking about?"

The Doctor said calmly, "You've been groomed, for a very long time. Someone or something has been fiddling around in time to ensure that you get to the right place at the right time. This is your fixed point, Jack Carter. From here on in are your unfixed points."

There was a flash of light, and everyone's attention was once again drawn to the Pandorica. Daniel appeared, dressed in his Elder robes. He lowered his hood as he regarded his friends calmly. He said, glancing at Jack Carter, "He's right... in a way."

When Jack Carter continued to look confused – as did the others albeit to a lesser degree – Daniel continued, "I don't know why. I just know that we need you, Sheriff. You seem to be very important right now; the deciding factor in the continued existence of the universe."

There appeared to be a delay in his friends' reactions, no-one sure of how to react to something affecting them on a universal scale. They were used to dealing with things on a galactic basis; occasionally leaving the galaxy for very big things, or to visit Atlantis. The Doctor, despite his vast experience, often had trouble dealing with the universe as a single entity. It was just too big.


	8. Chapter 8

_This first scene was inspired a little by The Gamekeeper (SG-1), and quite a bit by the Ruler of the Universe character from Douglas Adams' 'Restaurant at the End of the Universe' (one of the Hitchhiker's novels). _

_Also... Happy New Year!_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Samantha Jackson was suddenly in human form again, and yet she wasn't. In a way, she felt as though she was somebody's living albeit human interpretation of Schroedinger's Cat. Wherever she was, it didn't feel real, which, considering her varied experience with the Stargate Programme thus far, was saying something. The only real thing she could vaguely be sure of was her unborn child, who now seemed to be back within her. Sam frowned as she looked down at her attire. She wore a long flowing dress of a lightly floral fabric, the pale colours seeming to change regularly and inexplicably.

When she eventually managed to tear her eyes away from her dress, beneath which her swollen abdomen was quite evident, she looked around her at her surroundings. She appeared to be in a well-maintained garden, with flowers of a myriad colours blooming from various bushes. It appeared to be sunny but she couldn't see the sun; just an endless blue sky, lightly interspersed with wisps of beautiful white clouds.

She wasn't quite sure of what to make of it all. She turned around, noting that the distractingly beautiful grass beneath her feet felt softer than sand. She sighted a huge house in the distance but an instinct which she couldn't quite rationalise made her turn back to where she had initially been facing and keep walking. All she knew was that she felt safer doing so.

It didn't feel surreal on the whole, but considering the circumstances, she began to feel that it should have felt surreal, and she wondered why it didn't feel so. Perhaps the various adventures and wild goose chases she had experienced had desensitised her to things that would send a normal person into a blind panic, or at least a seeing panic.

'No birds.'

She stopped upon experiencing a very brief flashback of something Teal'c had said on a mission long ago. She hadn't had flashbacks like that in quite a while; 'soundbite flashbacks' as Daniel had referred to them when she had finally fully confided in him about her experiences with Jolinar – she had found it amazing – and a little sad too – that after a year or so marriage at the time, there was a lot that she hadn't told him.

The 'soundbite flashbacks' were flashbacks, brief as they were, where she could almost, and at times, actually hear the person speaking or an object making a sound.

There were no birds; no insects, and no observable wildlife. Previous experience – and of course, a little common sense – led her to proceed with caution. She had no wish to fall prey to the 'sleeping sickness' she, Daniel, Teal'c, and others had contracted on Vagonbrei around a decade previously. She still had nightmares from time-to-time of the extraction team sealing her in the 'coffin'.

It was further proof, she thought, of how SG-1 had long been her life. She appeared a touch wistful as she continued walking. She missed the 'normal' missions that they used to have; all the things they did before she and Daniel had settled down and ended up with Ancient abilities that had proven – in part – to be a burden on their lives, their family, and their friends.

But, as the old, oft-quoted cliché went, 'with great power, comes great responsibility.' They hadn't chosen this life; it had chosen them, just like, in a manner of speaking, the Stargate had. Looking back, despite everything, she wouldn't change that; perhaps, she thought, in time, she would look upon the Ancient abilities and related adventures in much the same way.

Soon, she came across a wooden dwelling which seemed to be the centre of the garden, or a centre of a part of it; she knew, after so long, that one couldn't be too sure of such things. The dwelling seemed small and on the brink of falling into disrepair. Perhaps because of its diminutive state compared to the huge house behind her – she didn't know – she had no qualms about approaching it.

When she was at the door, she slowly reached for the door handle, not thinking to look into the grubby windows to see whether it was safe to enter or not. Perhaps the hut had some answers, or at least some clues as to where she was. She opened the door, the door not creaking like she had expected it to, considering the amount of rust on the hinges and the poor condition of the wood.

Inside, she paused in shock to see that the inside appeared bigger than the outside of the building, although, after her adventures with the Doctor, it was a concept that shouldn't have surprised her all that much. It also appeared to be rather richly decorated. At the far end of the chamber was a roaring fire, in front of which was a large brown leather chair, from which she could hear indistinct mutterings. She looked down at the floor, briefly thinking that it was constructed of water. She gingerly took a first step, noting that the floor felt quite hard beneath her, and that there weren't any ripples.

Her confidence returning, she ventured towards the fire, gradually becoming aware that there was music playing, albeit rather faintly. She spoke softly, not wanting to startle the inhabitant of the hut.

"Hello? I'm General Samantha Jackson of the United States Air Force."

The mutterings from the chair seemed to cease, as though the person was surprised at her presence. She stopped moving when she was within reach of the back of the chair, and she grimaced a little when she realised that, one: she didn't have a weapon, and two: she hadn't noticed that until she was well inside what could possibly be enemy territory.

Sam said, "I mean you no harm. I'm just trying to find a way out of here."

She flinched on feeling something at her feet. She then silently chastised herself when she realised that it was only a cat. She smiled, albeit a tad bemusedly, on seeing such a creature on quite possibly an alien world with no other observable wildlife. She crouched down and stroked the beautiful tabby cat that didn't seem to mind her presence. The cat rolled on the floor and purred, before lazily getting to its paws and leaping up onto the chair.

A voice – male and quite quiet – spoke, "The Lord has returned."

The chair spun around, its occupant facing Sam. Sam, however, could only gape in shock when she recognised who it was. He looked a trifle different from the last time she had seen him; as though he was somewhat downtrodden; as though he was somehow not himself. When she managed to speak, she said, horrified,

"Daniel..."

Daniel – or rather older-Daniel; her husband from an alternate future – looked straight through her as though he didn't know her. He turned his chair back towards the fire as he continued to mutter, presumably to his cat. Not quite accustomed to being ignored by any Daniel, Sam made her way to the front of the chair and crouched down before it, looking up at him. She held his hands and said almost pleadingly,

"Daniel, it's me; you have to help me. Please."

Older-Daniel looked down at her as though he was confused in general. He said, a touch drowsily, "What is 'me'?"

He then seemed distracted by a pencil and a piece of paper that he found in his hands, while the cat roamed the back of the chair. He frowned at it and wondered what would happen if he brought them together. Would he like the outcome? His first attempt was intriguing but felt disappointing too: the paper seemed to bend around the pencil, as though the pencil existed and the paper was not only acknowledging it but accommodating it too.

His second attempt was an experience to say the least; the pointy part of the pencil appeared to wound the paper. He closed his eyes and cast them away; what monstrosity had he created? However, once they had left his hands, he had forgotten that they had existed, and he opened his eyes to see something of intrigue in front of him.

Sam didn't know what had happened but she needed him. She gently tapped his cheek, getting him to focus on her again. She said, "Daniel, I need you to help me."

He said, "I can't help you – you're not real." As she was taken aback by his words, and admittedly recalling his stories about his grandfather, he looked up at the back of the chair at his cat. He reached up to stroke it, and said, "I don't think the Lord's real; she's just odd."

Sam momentarily paused as she remembered that her Daniel was never religious. She eventually realised who or what he was talking about, and she said in cautious disbelief, "You named your cat '_the Lord_'?"

Older-Daniel was still focussed on his cat. He said distractedly, "That's the thing; she's not real, so I couldn't have named her anything."

Sam sighed in exasperation as she recalled some of the things that had driven her up the wall when it came to her own Daniel. She said, "Daniel, I'm real, and I need your help."

He shrugged and said, "That's what they all say." He suddenly looked at her with interest, and said, "Do you want to hear a story?" When she appeared sceptical, he added, "The Lord has heard it a lot. Even if she's not real, she's close to clawing my eyes out." He looked at Sam inquisitively. "And you're something new."

Sam sighed once more. She didn't have the time. Well, she wasn't sure how much time she had, but she was aware of it slowly ticking away. He said, "It's more hearsay than anything, but 'hearsay' is a curious term; it means that I'd have to have heard it from someone, and I clearly didn't; it's impossible."

He continued, "There once was a traveller. He had travelled far and wide with his fellow travellers among the stars." He smiled dreamily as he leaned back in his chair, oblivious to Sam's shocked reaction. "They had seen much; been through much together. Eventually, the traveller and one of his fellow travellers realised how much they really meant to one another after a terrifying incident. They then had lots and lots of children and got married along the way. Along the way, too, they were endowed with abilities because of some old prophecy, and the traveller split into three: a part of him lost his warrior-wife in a future that cannot be; the second part spent the rest of his life alone in the desert; and the third part managed – against all the odds – to hold onto his wife and his family.'

"But the part that had lost his wife – the one from the future that cannot be – tried to regain repeatedly what he had lost, and was ultimately banished by higher powers. His final sacrifice for the woman he loved was to defy the Ancients and try to save her from a fate worse than death. But in doing so, he trapped himself and forgot everything about himself."

As Sam remained in shock, trying to process what she had heard, older-Daniel laughed lightly as though he had thought of a funny joke. He said, "Things that aren't real seem more real than real sometimes."

She said, surprised, "You don't remember anything?"

He frowned. "I don't remember 'anything'; I don't even know what that is so it probably doesn't even exist." He sighed as he looked wistfully towards his cat. "I hope the Lord exists though."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Touch it. A prison is always easier to open from the outside. They're usually designed to keep the inside away from the outside; not the other way around." The Doctor paused momentarily in thought. "In most civilisations anyway."

The Doctor ambled around the Pandorica, occasionally making his way around to where Jack Carter was and peering at him casually. Jack Carter and Jo hadn't moved much from their initial positions as they stared up at the huge box that dominated the chamber in overwhelming size as well as complexity. Carter eventually managed to drag his attention from the box, and still looking confused, he spoke.

He said, unsure, "You want me to touch..." He gulped and pointed to the Pandorica. "... _that_ thing? That thing that could kill us all or do other crazy things no-one has thought of yet?" He finally focussed his attention on the Doctor, and said, "Who are you anyway?"

SG-1 had long since taken to perching on various walls or items of furniture. Cam, who had been watching O'Neill bounce a ball from a quiet corner, stepped into view between Carter and the Doctor. He said, "Long story." Cam looked at the Doctor in concern. "I'm sure I needn't remind you that we need to get Sam out. Quit stalling and think of something."

The Doctor looked at him in mild bemusement. "Me?" When Cam nodded albeit wearily, the Doctor continued, "One of your greatest, and if I might say so, most good-looking and non-ginger ally-slash-friend?"

Cam tried hard but failed to not appear exasperated or impatient. Jack O'Neill, on the other hand, had always seen tact, or at least attempted tact, as a hindrance. O'Neill stopped bouncing his ball, and snapped, "Cut the shit and rock the boat. C-4 might not have worked but we can always mail order some stronger shit from Earth."

The Doctor visibly blanched, and he said, seriously, "You can't use more explosives on the Pandorica; I won't let you."

A still seated O'Neill retorted, "That might work on folk who think the sun shines outta your ass, but luckily, we're not your garden variety folk. Not one of us is intimidated by you, so I suggest you either help us or fuck off."

When he caught an odd look from Cam, O'Neill said, bemused, "What? I'm retired."

O'Neill's attention returned to the Doctor. "So as I was saying, you're nothing... and once the remote dialling doohickey that Jonas is working on is up and running, we're going to blow this shit sky high."

The Doctor exclaimed, "Is that your answer to everything?" He sighed aloud. "Wait, pointless question."

Everyone's attention was sharply drawn, however, to Cam when he suddenly straightened up and held his radio earpiece in. Teal'c immediately tensed on realising just how exasperated Cam looked. O'Neill said, not liking drama,

"Well?"

Cam looked towards Teal'c and then O'Neill. He wore an expression that all of them – except for Carter and Jo of course – knew too well; it provoked a feeling of something happening which confounded their situation further. Cam said, tired,

"Oh, you'll never guess. Quinn has reported that the 'gate won't shut down and there appears to be some signal or something coming from..." He jabbed a thumb towards the Pandorica. "... this thing."

O'Neill reluctantly got to his feet. He then said, snapping into action, "Get him and Vala away from the 'gate."

"Already have, Sir."

O'Neill said, loading his firearm, "No you haven't. You know as well as I do that that boy does a really good impersonation of Daniel. And don't get me started about your wife."

O'Neill then followed Teal'c who had already jogged out of the chamber.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jonas was seated on the ground in front of the active 'gate. He fiddled with a device which he held in his lap, oblivious to the fact that Vala had loaded her P-90 and had it trained on the event horizon. Jonas appeared troubled as he observed the readings the device was receiving. The active event horizon appeared to flash and pulse oddly, changing colour, from blue to lilac. Soon, flares of the same coloured light shot forth from the event horizon, the flares reminiscent in appearance of solar flares.

Jonas stared up at the sight in absolute fascination, the device forgotten in his hands. Vala frowned as she looked towards him and then at the event horizon, as though silently hinting to him that they should retreat. Eventually, Vala, who had moved around until she was right next to him, yelled above the roar,

"Jonas! Move!"

When he didn't, she sighed as she manhandled him to his feet. She struggled to drag him away from the 'gate while keeping her firearm trained on it. She was aware of her radio going off but she couldn't hear it over the increasing whooshing and roar of the anomaly nor could did she have a hand free to yell into it.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as he eventually regained the use of his legs and started running along with her. And then it happened. One of the flares lashed out, hitting her in the back. She felt a rush of pins and needles in her back as her head whipped back from the impact. The pins and needles soon turned into what seemed like a cool burning sensation before all became dark.

Jonas stared in horror as Vala collapsed to the ground. He then yelled her name before hoisting her over his shoulder and struggling to drag her out of harm's way.


	9. Chapter 9

Daniel was once again a mass of energy floating through the infinite majesty of the universe. Despite his burden, he felt freer in his present form, as though his troubles weren't encapsulated within the limited confines of a human body. But there was trouble. As though his wife's predicament wasn't bad enough, the universe was in danger. He wasn't sure what he was seeing, but everything he saw seemed wrong, as though it was all on the brink of collapse or extinction.

If things had happened differently, they would have destroyed the Pandorica – or at least tried to – long before now. He knew, despite himself, that Sam would have wanted it if it meant saving the universe; saving everyone they knew and didn't know; saving their children. Time seemed to rotate in one humongous loop rather than in relative streams, as though the universe was working itself to the brink of collapse before starting all over again, repeatedly. The threat of devastation was everywhere; once again, it was infinitely more than his family; than his friends; than Earth.

It was his duty, he felt, as patriarch of his family, to protect them in any way that he could; to protect Sam. He hadn't done a good job of that so far, admittedly, but he wasn't going to give up. He just needed to get a picture of how big the situation was. What he could see, however, was mind-blowing.

He soon became aware of a presence; a fellow mass of energy. He smiled, or at least felt as though he was smiling as he recognised the older version of his eldest daughter from an alternate future. He spoke, still not quite used to his voice seeming as though it was echoing throughout his incorporeal body. He said,

"Cameron." He resumed speaking as his attention returned to the deadly cosmic splendour that they were soaring through. His voice had taken on a grimly serious tone. "Welcome to the end of the universe." He snapped, "How the hell can one little box cause so much destruction?"

Older-Cammie replied, "You know why. It isn't of any multiverse; it's outside of space-time as we know it. The Eternals were crazy clever; way more than the Alterans. There's a theory that they were from the dark ages before the creation of the universe."

He hummed in half-hearted acknowledgement, the sound echoing throughout his mass. The silence that followed was just as heartbreaking. Older-Cammie continued suddenly, "Dad sacrificed himself for Mom." When she sensed confusion from him, she said, "_My_ Dad. He forced himself into the Pandorica."

Daniel looked at her sharply, or felt as though he had; it was hard to tell in his present state. How had someone else without his particular skill set done what he could not; how could he have even thought of something that he hadn't even considered?

Daniel snapped, albeit jealously, "That's impossible."

She smiled sadly. "Like that would stop you." A surge of emotion rushed towards Daniel like the sea at high tide. She said, "I've lost him, Dad. I don't know how he did it but I can't find him. Jimmy's trying to work out how he got inside."

Emotion just as turbulent surged back towards older-Cammie. Daniel watched the chaos around them. He said, "I can't do anything. Anything that I do isn't going to change a thing. Yet again, the fate of the universe depends on the acts of one man."

"Like that's surprising."

"A man at the centre of something a certain someone knew was going to happen, and, yet again, neglected to warn us."

Older-Cammie said grimly, "Dad, you know how it works."

He suddenly felt very tired; drained from his ordeal and previous Ancient-related ones. He said bitterly, "I know, and I'm sick. I'm sick of it all: the games, and the toying with my family's lives; supposed _destiny_, and _fate_..." He looked around himself and yelled, "I'm sick of it, Dad! You should have told us! For crying out loud, your own daughter's in danger! How the hell can I protect her if you and those idiot Ancients won't give me the intel that I need!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Cam stood by himself in the entrance of the temple complex on Kheb. He didn't like it when his friends got themselves in trouble, but somehow, it was much worse when it was his wife, despite their professional history together. As though SG-1's various predicaments and stumbles weren't enough to emotionally compromise him during moments that required him to think clearly and to be decisive, even thinking that his wife was in any way hurt almost made him useless in his position of responsibility.

It was supposed to get easier with time, he told himself repeatedly. But, it didn't. Vala was everything to him, and in any other circumstance, in any other command structure and/or organisation, they would not have been allowed to work together. However, SG-1 was SG-1, and their unique bonds had been their greatest strength as well as their greatest weakness over the years. He knew that he – given the opportunity as he had been once – could never choose people that worked together as well as his team did.

He forced himself to focus on the situation in hand. There would be time to be _weak_ later. Sam had been imprisoned; Jackson had disappeared; Vala was out of action for the time being; Sheriff Jack Carter and Jo Lupo from Eureka had inexplicably travelled to Kheb with them. Perhaps it was a bit too much to put the burden of saving the day in an intellectual way upon Jonas. This was way out of anyone's league, to date, and that was saying a lot, considering their years of, well, _crazy_.

Cam's attention was soon drawn to what appeared to be black dots in the horizon; black dots which soon grew in size and became recognisable, much to his exasperation; as though the day hadn't already seen trouble beyond measure. He pressed his earpiece and said as he readied his firearm,

"We've got company, folks. Over."

Soon, the sky was ablaze with light from the vessels of different sizes, makes, and origins, and then with their respective weapons fire. Cam sighed. Sometimes it seemed as though when things got really bad, something had to happen to make it even worse; he should have expected that by now – it seemed to happen on an almost weekly basis. He ducked further back into the doorway, narrowly avoiding a shower of brick and dust, dislodged by a near miss from an unidentified craft. He yelled into his radio,

"I'm gonna need the big guns out; looks like Kheb's shield isn't working!"

Before he had even finished speaking, Teal'c and Jack were in the doorway with him, Teal'c wielding two staff weapons as he leapt out to shoot at the craft above them. Jack and Cam glanced at one another and then leapt out, guns a-blazing.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Meanwhile, deep inside the temple, Jonas knelt at an unconscious Vala's side as he proceeded to treat her with the contents of his backpack. The Doctor walked around them, periodically looking at his activated sonic screwdriver with curiosity and then confusion. Jack Carter and Jo Lupo had initially tried to help Jonas but were left to watch, and then simultaneously wince, as the Kelownan inserted a catheter into the inside of Vala's elbow before attaching an IV to it.

Wincing soon turned to shielding themselves from falling debris and dust as the chamber shook periodically from impacts of differing sizes and increasing frequency. The Doctor, however, casually glanced up at the ceiling and then back at the screwdriver he held.

While Jonas enlisted Jack and Jo's help in moving Vala to safety, the Doctor appeared to have had an epiphany; a harrowing one at that judging by the shocked expression on his face. He leapt off a box that he had jumped up on during his previous musings and cogitations. He shouted,

"Eureka!"

The Sheriff and Jo looked up at the Time Lord in bewilderment, which was almost forgotten as they and Jonas had to shield themselves and Vala from more debris following another impact. The Doctor, now dusty-haired, said with breathless excitement,

"The universe is about to end, but there's some kind of failsafe built in to prevent that, like a time delay." He raised a finger as though to make a point. "I haven't worked out who... or what designed it... but it's as though the universe has been programmed to wait for one single action." His expression suddenly turned grave. "Time is swirling around, looping... but the loops are finite." He returned to his excited state just as suddenly. "But... but... butty but but..." He approached the Pandorica as the chamber around them shook from another impact. He declared, "... the Pandorica requires a genetic imprint; a willing one, if there is such a thing."

The Doctor peered at Jack Carter with interest, as he had a great many times since he had laid eyes on him, and which had never failed to unnerve the Sheriff. Carter said, confused, "What the hell is going on here? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your past." The Doctor leaned against the Pandorica as though it were a fence or a wall in a lazy summer's afternoon in England, rather than the harbinger of the end of time and everything else he knew and didn't know. He continued, "Something this big, the Ancients would have seen coming; with certain laws repealed, they would have done something."

Jonas, distracted momentarily from Vala's plight, said, "They set this up?"

"No. You see, Jonas, there are fixed points in time; the bits between them are the ones you can change. The fixed points, however, are the ones that you must not ever, ever change. This, here, is a fixed point. The Ancients may be outside of time now, but they respect that as much as I do... _sometimes_..."

The Doctor turned to look up at the Pandorica. He said, "The Eternals designed this to hold the most feared creature in the universe... but because of who Samantha Carter-Jackson is, it's creating a paradox which has put the whole of creation at risk. The Pandorica is multicasting across this galaxy through the 'gate network, and beyond. The walls of reality are cracking. Some of the races of the universe foresaw this destruction but attributed it to her... which, now, is kind of true."

Jo piped up, almost as confused as Jack was, "Well, who the hell is she?"

As though on cue, a flash of bright light filled the room, making most of those present shield their eyes. The light slowly shrank back into the form of a human being. The light faded softly to reveal a hooded figure wearing cream and white robes. It slowly lowered its hood to reveal the face of Jacob Carter.

Jonas appeared surprised as the Ascended version of his friend's father approached him. He silently crouched down by Vala's side and raised a hand over her unconscious body. His hand glowed a golden colour for a while as he focussed intently. When he moved his hand, Vala awoke with a gasp. As Jack Carter and Jo stared at the scene in shock, and Jonas looked slightly less shocked, Jacob stood up. He regarded the group before him, his eyes eventually falling on Jack Carter who seemed perplexed as he appeared to recognise him.

Jacob said gravely, "Jack, I am your father... and right now, I need you to save your sister."

The silence that followed was almost as deafening as the impacts threatening to destroy them all.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Surrender the Pandorica! Surrender! Surrender!"

SG-1, or at least, Jack, Cam, and Teal'c, were faced with Daleks once again. The Daleks seemed to take turns in screaming their demands at them in chilling electronic voices as they approached the team as menacingly as genetically-manipulated mutants encased in metal could. The three members of SG-1 could only slowly retreat, guns aimed at the enemy, as the Daleks led what amounted to an intergalactic invasion force, into the temple.

SG-1 were once again outmanned, outgunned, and essentially, well and truly in over their heads. What came next seemed to happen in slow motion. Jack O'Neill swore in that moment that he would never forget the sight of that huge honkin' pepper pot firing at them; the long blue bolt of energy heading straight for him.

But he didn't die; no-one did. A heavy mist appeared to have fallen in between them and the enemy. The mist took human form; specifically, the forms of their older selves along with older versions of Vala, Jonas, James, and Cameron from an alternate future, as well as a younger version of Daniel that the team had encountered in Egypt. They turned to smile knowingly at the surprised members of SG-1, and the older version of Jack quipped,

"You should know by now; we never leave our people behind." Older-Jack looked back at his Ascended friends. "Ain't that right, kids?"

Jack, Cam, and Teal'c exchanged looks of muted surprise at the apparent turn of events in their favour. The Ascendeds turned around to face the rising rabble as weapons were discharged, more out of fear than anything at the sudden appearance of the Ascended beings. The Ascendeds raised their hands to deflect the various weaponsfire, older-Cam remarking,

"Is that all you got?"

Older-Vala added, winking, "Looks like they're firing blanks."

Teal'c said calmly, "Your assistance is much appreciated."

Older-Teal'c replied with a smirk, "_Intervention_ is a more appropriate word to use."

Older-Jack added, "Or how we saved your asses." The old man said, "Now get those saved asses back inside; we got us a Carter to rescue." He cleared his throat, and continued almost awkwardly, "... again..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack Carter looked completely out of his depth, which, admittedly wasn't an unusual expression for a man often albeit secretly intimidated by the geniuses he worked with back in Eureka. Jo Lupo seemed to be the only one out of the two of them who could do anything. She looked between Jack and Jacob, and said, confused,

"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on here?"

Jacob said with a brief smirk, "All in due time, my pretty." His smile faded as he turned to see the confused face of Jack Carter. Jacob said, "Jack, it's true... and your the only person who can save your sister."

Jack said, sounding dazed, "I already have a sister. She's called 'Lexi'; she's..."

The Doctor had been watching the scene unfold with barely contained interest. He found that, as usual, he couldn't control himself. He interjected excitedly, "Sam told me about this... it's like a modern day Greek myth; a _god_ leaving a mortal with child. You see, the Ancients saw this coming, so they fiddled around and made it all look like destiny for Jacob here to..."

He stopped when everyone looked at him blankly; only Jacob looking at him with any sort of impatience. The Doctor continued bashfully, "Not this Sam... _my _Sam from a future that hasn't happened." When everyone continued to look at him blankly, he said with a shrug, "But that's not... important. Carry on."

Jack, looking stunned, dropped onto a step behind him. Jo looked from Jacob to Jack with confused intrigue. Jack looked up at Jacob and said falteringly, "You're... you're my Dad?" Jack took a deep breath to steady himself as he felt himself reach the brink. He looked up at Jacob again and said, "Okay... I can try to deal with that."

Jacob appeared mildly surprised, and Jo, sensing why, said, "He does crazy all the time..." She smirked briefly. "... not this crazy though. Seems a bit too close to home."

Jack took another deep breath and then looked up at Jacob. He said, still shocked, "Really?" Emotion seemed to pass across his face, and he continued, gaining confidence as well as anger, "Why didn't you stay in touch? You leave my Mom alone and then suddenly drop in on me forty-six years later and it's 'hey! Surprise! I'm your Daddy!'?" Jack stood up to face his father. "Have you even seen Mom?"

Jacob appeared regretful as he watched the younger man before him. Jacob said quietly, "It was complicated." He looked away from him and then back at him. It was then that Jacob Carter said something that he rarely – if ever – said to his other two children. "I'm sorry."

Jack scratched his head, the Sheriff still confused despite his anger quickly subsiding. He said, "It's a lot to take in... and don't get me started on how I don't understand how you entered the room, and what you did to General Mitchell's wife."

Vala bounded up to the Sheriff and said, "That is a story for another day, my dear Sheriff." Her expression grew serious in that dramatic way of hers. She said soberly, "Right now, there are bigger fish to fry. From what I can gather, all you have to do is touch the Pandorica. The whole of time and space is at stake, which includes our families and everything and everyone that we know."

Jack continued to look confused, as did everyone else when they realised that the impacts seemed to have stopped. The rest of SG-1 entered the scene, and the Doctor drew everyone's attention to him as a stunned and then relieved yet professional Cam sidled up to his wife. As the Doctor spoke, he was always moving, walking around the Pandorica and jumping off of bricks and steps.

The Time Lord said, "Right... what I've been trying to explain to you people for, well, for a long time... well, it's a short time for me, but it feels like a long time due to the exasperation I'm feeling right now..." He sighed aloud. "Sam has been attracting a lot of attention; the whole Carter-Jackson clan have. She is the embodiment of the Star of Ma'at, something that has been fought over for, well, ever." When Jack Carter and Jo appeared confused, he said, "What that is isn't important right now." He continued, "The Pandorica was designed by the Eternals as a prison for the most feared thing in the universe. The vast legions of the universe that are figuratively at the gates found a way to activate it in order to capture Sam. They foresaw this carnage and attributed it to her rather than to their actions in capturing someone they couldn't understand. The Pandorica was never designed for anything as powerful as Sam and, as it was designed prior to the creation of this universe, it is therefore outside of current space-time and thus capable of destroying it."

The Doctor approached Jack Carter, and said sombrely, "The Pandorica is a doddle to open... all models – even the later ones – can be broken into by a paradox. You are that paradox, Sheriff Jack Carter of Eureka."

Jack Carter's confusion was renewed as he looked at Jo, and for once, wished that Fargo was there to explain something. He said, "Para-what?"

Jonas said, perplexed, "The only paradox I can think of is that he and Sam share the same father. Surely a better paradox would be Mark seeing as he shares both her parents?"

Jacob said with a shake of his head, "The Ancients have been fiddling around with time... I had an affair in Fresno in '68 and I was made to possess my younger self, if you will, during that time. During conception, Jack's mother was implanted with Ancient DNA. Combined with mine in my _possessed_ state, Jack has enough Ancient DNA to fool the Pandorica within the space of a single touch that he is Sam."

The stunned silence that followed was broken by Jack O'Neill remarking, "Bullshit."

When everyone looked towards him in surprise at the outburst, he resumed speaking. He said, "I'm not the brightest bulb in the box... but while that description of yours, Jake, is somewhat disturbing, why the fuck didn't you guys just stop this whole pile of shit from happening in the first place?"

Jacob replied calmly but with regret, "Because..."

He was interrupted by Jack O'Neill yet again, who said, "And how the hell is Sheriff Monkey over there going to fool this giant doohickey into thinking that he's Carter? If I'm not mistaken, she's supposed to have all that phenomenal cosmic power... and if that thing is holding her, then it's even more powerful..."

The Doctor replied with a shrug, "Eternal tech is remarkably stupid. Seriously, these Ascended races are arrogant beyond belief." The Doctor looked turned back to Carter and said, "It's not just touching it that's important here. You have to want to do it. Any sign of duress or uncertainty and who knows what could happen?"

O'Neill retorted, "Can't be any worse than the universe turning into an ex-universe."

Jacob looked at his son. He said, almost pleadingly, "Jack... your sister is an amazing woman who you never really got to know. I really want you to get to know her. I'm sorry that it had to happen this way; I really am."

The Doctor nodded at the others, and they parted, leaving Carter to look up at the Pandorica. It had certainly been one hell of a long day. He couldn't even process what was happening and what had happened. All he had to do, apparently, was touch a great big box that had absolutely screwed his day over, and it would all be over. Could it be that simple?

Carter nervously glanced at his current companions. He gulped, and stepped closer to the Pandorica. He said, "I guess I don't have a choice..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sam had tried repeatedly to get through to older-Daniel. He seemed to have a solipsistic view of reality, as though he wasn't sure of anything existing outside of himself, and even then it was debatable. Her abilities seemed to have ceased working properly as she discovered upon trying albeit repeatedly to kick-start his memories like she had the last time her own Daniel had forgotten everything about himself.

Eventually, she realised that there was no use in trying to get through to him. For the first time in a very long time, she couldn't rely on Daniel to help make sense of her surroundings. He had left her. In barely restrained tears, she left the shack, feeling defiant nonetheless that she would find a way out. The garden outside expanded into rolling fields with no end in sight. There was green and sky as far as the eye could see.

Soon, the sky darkened as storm clouds dramatically filled it. Rain fell in torrents, thoroughly drenching her within seconds, and further compounding her growing misery. Pitch blackness fell, interspersed with sudden forks of lightening, followed by large peals of thunder. She sank into the muddy grass, finally giving up. What was the point? She could never leave this place, and for once, she felt as though there was no-one to save her.


	10. Chapter 10

Daniel appeared in the control room of the SGC. His appearance, despite the burst of white light that had accompanied it, had gone unnoticed. He had never knowingly experienced a time loop before. The first few times, he shielded himself with his arms instinctively as the 'gate exploded. Despite figuring out that it was being undone each time, it still unnerved him. Sheppard and Elizabeth were oblivious to him. Nonetheless, Daniel muttered as he left the control room,

"Not blowing things up while being in charge should be a clause in your contract."

All around him, events looped; he found quite a lot of his experience rather freaky. Personnel ran down corridors and within seconds, were running down the same corridors again, and again, and again. Having recently been in cosmic form, he surmised that the looping was a result of the universe effectively making the last indefinite circuits around the drain before being destroyed forever. A part of him thought of how Sam would have found the whole situation fascinating – how everything on Earth and even beyond was stuck in a loop despite time being relative.

Despite having lost Sam, he could still 'hear' her; he couldn't actually hear her, but after being with her for so long, he could accurately imagine her reactions and what she would say at different times. Right now, he imagined that she would advise him not to descend. While ascended, he was outside of time. He would run the risk of being trapped within the loop if he became completely human again. He rounded a corner before remembering that he didn't have to walk. However, he stopped in his tracks for a different reason.

The TARDIS. It was right in the middle of a corridor but looked strange. It seemed to have died in that the lights were off and he could only sense the tiniest murmur that it wasn't completely gone. His heart sank; part of a series of improvised plans had involved entering the Pandorica using the TARDIS' ability to travel almost anywhere in time and space.

Despite the loops, something was changing although what, he didn't know. He would have to check on his children another time; as though the day hadn't been long enough, something appeared to be afoot; something else.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

For the second time that day, or in a period of time that he had long since stopped trying to measure, Jack Carter had been transported somewhere with neither his consent nor any idea of how he had got there. It appeared to be dark around him but he couldn't be sure whether he was indoors or out. He stared around at the darkness. When he looked upwards – or what he perceived to be that direction – he saw fine lights streak the sky, the sight reminding him of the times he and Zoe would stay up together to watch meteor showers. He had rarely done the same with Tessa, his wife, who was an astrophysicist; it was one of those daddy-daughter things that he rarely got to do any more because Zoe was all grown up with a family of her own.

Looking characteristically stunned, he called out into the darkness, surprised slightly upon hearing an echo. Okay, he decided, it sounded as though he was indoors; in a space that Tessa would probably refer to as 'finite'.

_'Jack.'_

Jack spun around, looking a little spooked upon hearing his name. He said, trying not to sound scared, "Who said that?"

_'Jack Carter.'_

"Uh, yeah... and you are...?"

A bright mist descended in front of him but which did little – if anything – to illuminate their surroundings. The mist morphed into a human shape, becoming denser and more opaque but it still glowed. Finally, it took the form of a woman with long fair hair, and it took him a moment to realise who it was: General Jackson, the general looking very different out of her dress uniform. When he had got over his initial surprise, he realised that she appeared sad; he observed depths of sadness which he had never thought humanly possible.

She said, "I wish this could have been under different circumstances, Jack. I really do."

When his brain eventually managed to slip in gear, he said, albeit falteringly, "Is... is this the reason you came to Eureka?"

She shook her head, surprised initially at the question. She said softly, "I swear, Jack, I have only just found out. I've only been recently briefed about the place and Daniel and I wanted to see it for ourselves." She smiled self-depreciatingly and looked downwards, somehow feeling ashamed. "Figures that whenever we want to do something for fun, something like this comes to bite us in the ass."

"What's going on?"

"You know."

"I really don't."

Sam sighed aloud and looked upwards. She then looked at him once again, and said, "You're my brother."

He said a touch sarcastically, "Uh, yeah, I think I might have got that by now."

She shrugged albeit helplessly, and then said, "Well... did anyone tell you how stupid Eternal tech is? It's barely able to process your presence." She reached for his hands and said, "Jack, I really need you to believe now. If we can synchronise our brain waves, we might just get out of here."

"How the hell are we going to do that?"

Sam touched his cheek and whispered as she grew closer to him, "You're just going to have to trust me." Her hand reached his left temple and she gently stroked it as he looked at her as though she was out of her mind – as though was out of his mind. She whispered as she closed her eyes,

"This might feel a little strange at first... partly because I only ever really got to practise this on Daniel."

He shied from her touch, exclaiming furiously, "What is wrong with you people?"

Sam tried to be patient as she sensed confusion and fear from him. Sometimes, she forgot to take into account that the things that she was used to were actually not normal. She had worked with the Stargate for far too long, she wistfully thought as it hit her just how weird everything would be to someone as uninitiated as her brother; well, either of her brothers.

Sam spoke, her eyes glistening with tears shed and unshed, hers and not hers. She said softly, pleadingly, "Jack, please. You're the only one who can help me. I'm really sorry about everything, but..."

Jack looked at her, his anger offset by his ever present confusion. He said, "Why are _you_ sorry? It's not like you made this happen." He looked at her, as though seeing her for the first time. He said with forced calmness, "I guess I'm going to have to get used to this. I have a sister – another sister – who's... who's..." He paused, his eyes giving away just how out of his depth he was. "... what the hell are you anyway? Are you even human?"

She smiled, bemused. "Yes, I'm human."

She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, her head bowed. When she raised her head and opened her eyes, she looked as though she had waited for an aeon and was calmly accepting the prospect of waiting for another aeon. He stared at her with a confused sense of fascination as for one brief moment, she seemed older than everything he had ever known.

She said, "Jack, there is a lot to talk about... and I'm not sure I'm as qualified as Daniel, or even Dad, to tell you everything that you need to know."

Jack Carter stared at the woman before him as the metaphorical cogs continued to turn and grind. He said softly, "You're my sister."

She looked back at him, not saying anything as he continued to think aloud.

He continued, "That man out there is my father." He took a deep breath, thinking of all the weird things he had done since moving to Eureka, and how the present situation was all a little too close to home. "You're clearly something else... and Dad out there too, and Doctor Jackson; what about General O'Neill and...?"

She said, "It's just me and Daniel that are like this." She exhaled. "Dad is a long story."

"This is just crazy."

"You're telling me." She sighed aloud. "Jack, I don't have a lot of time. We have a lot to talk about but we can do that later." She reached for his hand, and this time he complied, placing his hand in hers, albeit hesitantly. When at last they were holding hands, she closed her eyes as he looked around at what seemed to be their surroundings exploding brilliantly yet silently.

He looked back at his sister and gulped. He eventually closed his eyes as the explosions swirled around the two of them.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Doctor stood upon a pile of rubble while SG-1 and Jo, rather more sagely in their respective opinions, hid in doorways of the chamber or behind pillars or large items of furniture. The Pandorica spun with increasing force, generating a strong wind which whipped around the Doctor, tousling his hair in various directions. He shielded his eyes and he occasionally ducked as the wind picked up debris of varying sizes. He watched as the light from the etchings and carvings on the Pandorica changed through a myriad of colours from the dim electronic green that it had previously been.

He shouted over the wind, "This is amazing! The paradox should create enough energy to open up the Pandorica and restore the universe to its former glory."

As if on some fatal cue, the Pandorica began to slow down, leaving the Doctor aghast, and the others just as confused as they had been for a long time. The Doctor yelled in protest.

"No! No! You can't do that!" As the wind slowed, he held his Sonic Screwdriver aloft as he squinted at it. He said, albeit in despair, "It's not enough. The one thing that should have been able to open that damn box is not enough."

The wind abruptly stopped, all becoming still. Just as all did so, the Doctor exclaimed in surprise in the silence that followed, "Oh!"

SG-1 and Jo eventually emerged from their hiding places, and everyone's eyes fell upon the Pandorica, now silent, still, and, worryingly, dark. Jack O'Neill was the first, bar the Doctor, to break the tense and dusty silence.

The old General wearily exclaimed, "Oh, what now?" He jabbed a finger accusingly at the Doctor. "You said that getting Sheriff Monkey-face near that _thing_ would end all this." He sighed reluctantly. "I want Carter back." When he caught an odd look from Jo, he continued, _"My_ Carter._"_

The Doctor calmly retorted, "_I _said no such thing... _initially_." He leapt off the pile of the rubble he had been stood upon. He approached the Pandorica, and looked up at it. He said, "The end is nigh... unless we can get a huge power boost."

As though on cue, with a much nicer happenstance than previously, a ring of golden and white light circulated the Pandorica, a ring much thinner than the one that had previously blazed. O'Neill fearlessly wandered over to the light, the retired General quietly fascinated by the sight of the ring that rippled and flowed almost like water.

Jo asked, horrified, "What... what is that?"

Cam asked, confused yet again, "Jackson?"

The Doctor held his extended Sonic Screwdriver aloft once again, the light on the end pulsating rapidly. He peered up at his trusty tool, and said, "Um... no. The energy pattern's all wrong." He looked around at SG-1, who were now gathered together near the Pandorica. "At a guess, this is the Ascended forms of our saviours earlier; your older Ascended selves." He shook his head. "They're not having any effect on the Pandorica's readings."

Everyone was rooted to the spot as a loud sound ripped through the chamber, rather similar to a dramatic peal of thunder. There was a blaze of light above the Pandorica, much brighter than the ring. It blazed brighter and brighter, white flames licking the surfaces of the cube from the top down.

Jonas said in an awed whisper, "I... I think that might be Daniel now."

All shielded their eyes as the light got too bright for them as it obscured their vision completely. There was a whining sound which increased in pitch and frequency, and which seemed to last for an eternity as everyone shut their eyes tightly and covered their ears, hoping that it would all end soon.


	11. Chapter 11

_I'm really, really sorry about the huge (relatively huge) delay in getting this chapter published; real life has been getting in the way even more so than it usually does. _

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Elizabeth Sheppard stood in the control room of the SGC, looking down at the gateroom in mild confusion. She glanced at John, who seemed just as confused, which was quite uncommon in her experience. She looked down at a just as confused Walter, and said,

"Did you just..."

Walter tapped the same series of buttons that he had been tapping for however long. He gaped down at the idle Stargate, at the empty, normal looking gateroom. He then shook his head and said, "It was nothing. Nothing's showing up on the 'gate logs."

Elizabeth then looked at Walter in further confusion. She looked at John, seemingly forgetting what she had seen. She said, "Why... why are we here?"

John seemed to have woken from a day dream. He looked at his wife and shrugged. He said, albeit none too convincingly, "Why are any of us?"

Elizabeth blinked and then looked at her watch. She shook her head and said, "We need to get some rest." She looked at John. "When was the last time you actually slept?"

"I might ask you the same question, Ma'am." As though forgetting the reason for their presence, he said, "Quite uneventful for one of our babysitting stints."

As if on cue, a phone rang. As Walter answered it, John murmured, "Looks like I might have spoken too soon."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The universe seemed to pause on the brink of destruction. For a breathtaking albeit relative second, to an external observer, or at least an observer able to conceive such size and grandeur, it seemed as though the end had finally come. Races, like the Ascended, who could perceive such size and scale, and races like the Ood, who could do so psychically, watched or thought with bated breath as the universe made the last semi-circuit down the plughole.

But it paused, as though unsure that it wanted to call it a day so soon. 13.7 billion Earth years was too young to die. It seemed to think to itself this and other thoughts moments before the destruction unravelled. Time began to untangle itself from the deadly spiral it had got itself into, all returning to a state of relative normality. There was an all-prevailing silence, a silence far beyond one of the vacuum of free space. It was as though the ones able to observe were hesitant to say anything lest they jinx things and the universe decided to end itself once and for all.

But as everything settled, someone, somewhere, decided to let out a sigh of relief. The others weren't sure of the perpetrator, whether they were of the Ascended or Psychic planes. More followed suit, expressing their relief or thanks – depending on their particular disposition – in a myriad of tongues. Soon, the universe was alive with noise, signals being transmitted over a variety of media and frequencies. It had survived another cataclysm; it had lived to see another day.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Samantha Carter-Jackson sat up with a gasp. With an overwhelming combination of relief and shock, she found herself back at home, in her own bed. Struggling to get her breath back, she tried to comprehend how she had got there. Moments passed before she realised that she was alone. She looked around the room in a silent panic, as though doing so would solve the problem, as though he was just hiding in a corner. But he wasn't; not that she truly expected him to do so, but anything was possible living with eight Jacksons; nine, if she included her unborn child.

"Daniel?"

The sound of her voice echoed in the room as though the room was large, dark, and empty, even if it was quite the opposite. She felt increasingly isolated as she realised that she couldn't hear him, aurally or mentally. Her sense of panic increased as she struggled to leave her bed, remembering in doing so that, one) she was vulnerable in her condition, and two) she didn't know what she was dealing with, whether it was her husband's older self up to his old games or an alien incursion.

She paused as something hit her. Had the past week been a dream? She had been trapped for so long and she vaguely remembered that someone had been there. She frowned as she tried to remember but at the last moment, it slipped from her grasp. She tried again, remembering that someone – possibly the Doctor – had once told her that the slightest memory was the most important.

Grabbing the gun that she had had stashed away – despite Daniel's objections – she quietly and cautiously left the room. Outside, it looked normal. It couldn't have been, she thought; it must be another trick. How could she not remember coming home? The last thing she had remembered was that she was light years away, on Kheb, trapped in that stupid box, and there had been someone.

"Jack."

Sam frowned at her own utterance, trying to work out why she had said that. She entered the rooms of her children, somehow expecting the worst. However, she was more than surprised when she found them all, each one of them sleeping in their own beds. She kept silent watch over them, trying to work out why she couldn't sense Ancient energy from the ones that had similar abilities to hers.

_'Daniel, I really could use you right now.'_

She quietly crept downstairs, firearm still in hand. She had heard a noise, some murmuring; she wasn't sure if her abilities were working again to risk even attempting to leap in on whoever it was. She was however surprised to sight Cam through the open doorway of the living room. Puzzled, she said,

"Cam."

Cam had been standing at the living room window, looking out with a mug of coffee in hand as he usually tended to do at home when all hell had broken loose, as it usually had done with his family. He turned to look at her, a look of relief upon his countenance. His eyes dropped to the weapon that was now hanging limply by her side.

He said softly but intently, "Sam, hand it over. You shouldn't have that in the house."

Sam hesitantly handed her gun to him. She remarked weakly, "Seems like Vala's turned you into quite the hippy."

He chuckled quietly and looked at her again as he safetied the weapon before stashing it in his jacket. He said, "It makes sense with her children around. I'm just waiting for the day one of them hijacks the house and demands me to take them somewhere."

She had come to stand next to him in front of the window. He looked down at her, his smile hinting at the tiredness he felt from recent events. She glanced up at him and said, worried, "Where's Daniel?"

Cam's smile faded as a sense of despondency became evident. He said quietly, looking out of the window again, "We don't know."

She sighed and dropped her head, closing her eyes. He slid an arm around her and said, "Sam, we'll find him."

She replied almost-convincingly, "He'll come back." She looked up at him and he felt an overwhelming sense of sadness from her. She said, "That's how it's always been between me and him."

He sighed, hesitating to tell her something. She interrupted his train of thought as she said, looking confused again, "Where's everyone else?"

His expression was unreadable but she could feel the reason for that; a cacophony of conflicting emotions and memories. He exhaled as he looked out of the window again. He then said, "It's a good news-bad news moment, as Jonas sometimes says." He cocked his head as he looked at her with that same unreadable expression. "Which do you want to hear first?"

Sam swallowed, gulping at all of the worst case scenarios running through her mind before she thought how inappropriately underwhelming gulping was. She said, scared nonetheless, "Might as well get it out of the way."

He paused, as though not wanting to tell her. He then said, "The TARDIS appeared shortly after Jackson joined in with our glowy selves to crack the safe. Sheriff Carter, Ms Lupo, and the Doctor..." He seemed confused for a brief moment despite his vast experience. He said, "They got beamed into it."

She looked at him in dreaded hope. She said, "Daniel?"

Cam shrugged, disliking the sense of helplessness they both felt just as much as she did. He said, "I don't know. Maybe. The TARDIS disappeared and no-one's seen anyone since."

"How did you get back?"

Cam shot her a weird look. He said, "Somehow we ended up in front of the Stargate with the co-ordinates for Earth already dialled in." He looked at her hopeful expression which seemed to grow more hopeful by the second. He said, "And yes, before you say it, that was probably Jackson as well."

Her heart pounding like a jackhammer in her chest, she said, "What about the others?"

He smiled for the first time in a while, and spoke in softer tones. He said, looking at her, "Well, Samantha, I drew the short straw. The gang is nicely tied up at the SGC with an impending childbirth."

Sam gasped in shock and then started crying, albeit with not as much sadness as she was feeling. Before Cam could reach out to comfort her, he was compelled to shield his eyes from a bright burst of bluish-white light which engulfed her.

"Aw, damn, you know how I hate being left out of the action."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Life, in a subjective sense, was a long process, a long and winding road with forks and other obstacles. In an objective sense, it was so very short; too short. The Doctor felt the latter quite sharply despite having lived for nine hundred and five years. There were so many things that he had never had the time to do despite being the proud owner of the best ship-slash-time machine in the universe. There were always going to be things that he had never done, never seen, never had the chance to say. How humans achieved so much in their comparatively brief lifetimes amazed him.

The sense of life being short, of the precariousness of the existence of life, was made all the more acute as he stared out of the open doors of the TARDIS. They were in the furthest reaches of the universe, in territory he had only heard tales of. Amidst a cosmic background was the Pandorica which loomed silently just like a brick dropping through the sky of a world with gravity, wouldn't. It seemed as though it had been deactivated – almost as though it was safe – but he knew better than most. The thing was a danger as long as it still existed – his TARDIS housed at least two other beings that were likely candidates for imprisonment. He shuddered slightly as he remembered his own encounter with another version of the Pandorica.

He turned back to the TARDIS controls. Jack Carter looked as though he was trying to work something out while Jo Lupo gave the Doctor the same impression but on a much more overall scale. Daniel Jackson, glowing like someone who hadn't completed descended from that other plane of existence, frowned intensely as he focussed on a screen, trying to decide what to do with something outside of time and space.

Jack Carter said, frowning, "How about taking it up to those guys..." He pointed upwards. "... up there?"

Daniel sighed and looked at the Doctor. The Doctor said, approaching the console, "Being on a different plane of existence outside of space-time is different from being completely out of space-time. The different planes of existence are still part of this universe. That big brick out there pre-dates this universe." He suddenly appeared grim, and in that moment, his true age was apparent. "It must be destroyed if we are to live."

Jo Lupo said falteringly, "But... but if we can't blow it up..." She smiled slightly, as though surprised that she had thought of such a thing. "... how about we send it to another universe?"

When everyone looked at her, a mixture of intrigue and general confusion, she said, "Well, why not? Surely if I'm out here in the furthest depths of deepest Space, then the possibility of another universe isn't that far out?"

The Doctor looked down and smiled knowingly. He then looked across at Daniel who, although not smiling, felt the same way as the Doctor. The Time Lord said, "Other universes would be like this one, in the sense that it would be as much of a danger to them as it has been and still is for us. It'd just go for the next most dangerous person."

Jack asked, still confused, "Why isn't it now?"

Daniel replied, drawing their attention back to him, "Because we've disabled it for the time being. As long as this exists, we're in danger..." He looked at the Doctor briefly. "Two of us at least."

He sighed softly, the sound sounding as though a wind had passed through the ship. He looked at the Doctor again, and at his wife's newly found brother. The fate of the universe – quite possibly of all universes – rested upon the shoulders of the four people inside the TARDIS. Somewhere out in the deepest star-studded darkness, was everyone else that he had ever known or would know in his lifetime. Somewhere out there, his wife and his children were safe. Somewhere out there Cassie and Simon were welcoming their first child into the world. Life was going on and he had to do all that he could to ensure that it did.

The Doctor became quite serious as he realised just what was going through Daniel's head. The Time Lord said grimly, "You can't do that. Listen to me, Daniel; doing what I think you're going to do isn't going to help; it could make things worse."

"It's the only way; the universe hasn't been completely restored."

"You know as well as I do that there is always more than one way."

Daniel glowed even brighter, almost blinding his companions. He spoke, his voice not sounding quite like his own. He said, "Tell Sam that I love her."

As the Doctor yelled in protest, the light grew brighter and brighter until it reached its brightest. It seemed to condense into a smaller, brighter mass before shooting out of the TARDIS and straight into the Pandorica. The Pandorica appeared to spin slowly before disappearing in a silent blaze of white light.


	12. Chapter 12

_I am beyond sorry for the length of time it has taken to get this chapter finished. Unfortunately (and fortunately in more respects), I seem to have more of a life than I did. I have missed having the time to write though. Just so you know, I intend to carry on with this story; I've been writing the whole series for far too long to just drop off the radar. Thank you so much for your patience._

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The calm voice on the end of the line couldn't disguise the sense of urgency that he imagined was widespread throughout that secret base of hers. Something big had gone down and in the midst of it, his life, once again, was about to change forever. Doctor Simon Brookes, neurosurgeon, was about to become a father... quite imminently. When he had discovered that his then fiancée wasn't actually from Toronto, he had thought that he would never feel as overwhelmed again; shortly afterwards, he had been proved wrong when he went on his very first spaceship, visited another planet where he had experienced a Jaffa wedding, and he had visited Atlantis. Oh, and of course, finding out just who her ragtag bunch of friends actually were and what they really did.

But this, somehow, was more than all of that put together. He had spent his medical career thus far prolonging and maintaining life; sometimes watching the end of life despite his best efforts... but now, he had created life. And he wasn't there to see it.

Despite having been granted the clearance to know about Stargate Command and its operations, he still hadn't been granted full clearance to gain access to the base. Due to this, he was being escorted to the Infirmary by a Marine. A stupid loophole but there were bigger fish to fry. Even so, the lack of conversational effort on his escort's part made him edgy. Figuring that the soldier was tightlipped due to be under orders to be so, Simon snapped at one point,

"I do know what you do here; you can talk to me."

The Marine shrugged and smirked briefly. He said, "Then that's more than I know, Sir."

The Marine looked to the front as the lift continued its solemn descent. Simon sighed, already on tenterhooks. Why couldn't one of Cassie's friends have been there to meet him? He would definitely be feeling a lot better by now instead of unimportant, and, well, futile, for want of a better word to describe the uselessness and insecurity he felt.

When the lift opened, he recognised the floor, having visited it on several prior occasions. With his Marine caretaker in pursuit, Simon ran to the Infirmary. He soon found that his chaperone had been dismissed and he was being rushed through to a theatre by Jack O'Neill. Words had escaped either of the men, neither exchanging the pleasantries and the sarcasm (on Jack's part at least) that they usually would have.

Their rush finally over, a door was opened. He found himself being dressed with scrubs by someone as he took in the sight of his wife lying on her back, obviously in a lot of pain and discomfort as Sam Jackson held her hand.

Sam was bent over Cassie's gurney, comforting the younger woman as best she could. Her abilities only went so far when it came to labour pains. As she had only descended recently, she was fortunate to have the limited abilities which she had. But nothing could cure the anguish and anxiety generated by the possibility of her other half not being there. She gently kissed Cassie's brow and whispered,

"He'll be here, Cass."

She had reassured Cassie, or at least had tried to, since she had arrived on base. Sam could barely believe it – the young girl they had found on Hanka all those years ago, who had lost her family and her entire world, was now bringing new life into another world, a world which she had long since called her own. Cassie herself was scared of a number of things: the possibility of Simon missing the birth, and whether this time around, childbirth would run smoothly for her. She cried as she thought of all this as she was assaulted by her increasing contractions.

Sam looked up on hearing House say something in amongst the general hubbub of the theatre. She smiled upon seeing Simon, all scrubbed up, standing in the doorway. He appeared scared; the type of fear she had witnessed in Cam, Jonas, and even Daniel when they each had become fathers. New Dad shock. It was more an overwhelming than fear as such, but then fatherhood was a big responsibility.

Sam grinned as she whispered down at Cassie, "Cass, what did I tell you? He's here."

Her face damp with sweat, Cassie tried to raise her head to see her husband. Sam looked up at Simon, beckoning him over as House literally gave him a shove in the right direction. This seemed to break the young surgeon out of his trance as he went to Cassie's side as Sam quietly took a step into the background. Sam couldn't help but shed a tear as she watched the two of them as Simon kissed Cassie. Sam idly smoothed her swollen abdomen and whispered,

"Daniel, where the hell are you?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The whereabouts of one Daniel Jackson was something the man himself couldn't fathom even if he had heard his wife's question. He looked around himself, seeing neither light or dark, black nor white, shape nor abstract. There was nothing. When he happened across the Doctor, Jack Carter, and Jo, he surmised that if he could see them, then there must be light at the very least. He could also see the TARDIS which, for once, was a good thing for him.

Jack and Jo looked around themselves, unable to comprehend what they were – or, rather, weren't – seeing. Eventually, all eyes fell upon the Doctor. In Daniel's case, when all hell broke loose around the Time Lord, it was the Time Lord that seemed to be able to make heads or tails of it, or at least pretend to. The Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver and frowned as he lowered it to examine it.

He muttered, "Hmm, Earth air. 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.4% inert gases..."

The Doctor appeared to jump up and down on the ground beneath them. To the others' shock, he appeared to leap high above them, disappearing into the ether before reappearing from beneath them, and resuming his previous position. As the others looked on, flabbergasted, the Doctor didn't appear fazed. He said softly,

"No recognisable laws of physics."

Daniel asked, puzzled, "Doctor?"

The Doctor didn't appear to hear him as he slipped on a pair of 3D glasses. Jack hesitantly jumped up and down on the ground despite getting odd looks from Jo. He was soon high above them, disappearing with a surprised shout before reappearing, rising from the ground. Shaken, he said,

"Where the hell are we?"

The Doctor, still wearing his 3D glasses, grinned momentarily before looking grim. He said, "It would appear that we're in the void; the dead space between universes."

Jo remarked, "Not really dead if we're here."

Daniel glanced at Jo and then he looked at the Doctor. He said, "Why are we here?"

The Doctor looked at Daniel curiously. The Time Lord took his glasses off and said, "You brought us here."

Daniel, confused, said, "I did?" The archaeologist paused in thought, and then said, "But I was going to blow up the Pandorica." He looked around the void they were in. "... this doesn't look like exploding anything."

The Doctor walked into the TARDIS as the others stood outside, Jack trying to persuade Jo jump up and down, as he had done several times while the Doctor and Daniel had been talking. Daniel began to glow slightly as he concentrated. He closed his eyes, trying to call his Ancient brethren. But it was to no avail - there were no chiming noises in his head to signal an acknowledgement from an Ancient.

His eyes still closed, he continued focussing. He felt as though he was rising above them all, his mind's eye surveying their surroundings. What he saw, troubled him. There was nothing – other than his friends and the TARDIS – as far as he could perceive. Nothing. He frowned as a snippet of Ancient knowledge came to the fore.

This place was also known as 'hell', or as 'the howling' by those who had come before the Ancients.

The Eternals.

He suddenly felt himself being drawn back into his own body quite sharply. There seemed to be a crashing which he couldn't actually hear and then the ether vanished. The Doctor emerged from the TARDIS just as their surroundings swiftly changed into what appeared to be a large scale replica of an old fashioned courthouse.

The four looked around themselves, unsettled to varying degrees by the change in their surroundings. Upon turning completely around, they were once again faced with the Pandorica. To Daniel, the looming Pandorica appeared to mock him with its presence alone. As the others hung back, energy surged around Daniel's hands as he focussed, rather angrily, on the box; chiefly destroying said box.

However, there was a flash of light, different from what he was expecting to be the fruits of his labours. They all turned to see what appeared to be a rather large and rather old fashioned English high court judge peering down at them from its lectern. The 'judge' wore what appeared to be a sheep-skin wig and large red and white robes. It appeared to clear its throat and lower its spectacles to its nose as it regarded them coldly. The judge appeared to be neither male or female.

The Doctor, and the three humans, looked up at it, all of them not knowing what to do or how to behave in such a surreal situation. The judge spoke, albeit in an old English accent, its sexless voice booming around the courtroom.

"I would thank you not to discharge weaponry or cause explosions in this courtroom. I will hold you in contempt of court." The judge continued to peer down at the four, bending over its stand so much that his face was rather impossibly close to Daniel's.

"Ah, so you are the Guardian. Do you find this true, human?"

Daniel frowned in confusion as the judge's face eventually retracted. The archaeologist said, "Where are we and who are you?"

The judge's voice rose mildly in anger. "You, Sir, are in a court of law and you will answer all questions put to you. Now, I will ask once more: do you hold yourself to be the Guardian?"

Daniel sighed, deciding to co-operate for the time being. He said calmly, "The Ancients refer to me as the 'Guardian'."

The judge then peered at the Doctor. "You are the last Time Lord. The Time Lord with no name. Is that correct, Sir?"

The Doctor remarked, deadpan, "You forgot 'best Time Lord', who owns a rather spiffing ship..." The Doctor frowned as he realised that he hadn't seen the TARDIS in a little while. He said, trying to remain calm, "Where have you put my ship?"

"As I have said to your accomplice, I will ask the questions." He peered at Jack Carter and at Jo. The judge tutted and said to Daniel, "You are reminded to be more careful with your abilities. I understand that they are still new to you but the Pandorica does not concern these two."

With a wave of the judge's hand, Jack Carter and Jo Lupo disappeared in a flash of light. The Doctor and Daniel yelled in protest, but the judge silenced them. It said, "Patience. They have been sent back to their world. They cannot have the knowledge which you will infer from this session."

The judge looked behind the two men at the Pandorica and gestured towards it with a rather large wooden mallet. The judge said, "Now, defendants, answer me this... who of you was attempting to destroy Exhibit A?"

The Doctor and Daniel exchanged a glance, absolutely confused by the turn of events. The Doctor was about to speak but Daniel stopped him. The archaeologist said, "I was. It was in the process of destroying our universe."

"How was it doing so?"

The Doctor spoke up this time. He said, "The Pandorica was activated by an alliance of races across our universe. They did so without realising the full effects of activating a device constructed prior to the alleged birth of our universe."

The judge asked, appearing curious, "To what end did these races you mention activate the device you believe to be Exhibit A?"

The Doctor hesitated, wanting to keep Sam's whereabouts safe in the event they were once more faced with hostile aliens. Daniel took the opportunity to ask a question despite the judge's previous remonstrances. He said,

"Why have we been brought before this court?"

For once, the judge didn't reprimand him as it previously had. The judge said, "Daniel Jackson, the Guardian, you are accused of attempting to vandalise – on numerous counts – a piece of Eternal technology."

The judge regarded him coldly, and turned its attention to the Doctor. "And, you, Time Lord; you are accused of being an accessory to Daniel Jackson's actions." The judge returned its harsh gaze to Daniel. "How do you plead?"

Before Daniel could argue, the Doctor beat him to it. The Time Lord looked around at their surroundings, at the large scale replicas of highly polished wooden furniture as befitted an English high court. He looked at the judge and said a little too enthusiastically, "This isn't a fair trial. According to the Shadow Proclamation, we are allowed to be tried for these – if I may, ridiculous accusations – by a jury of our peers, or as innocent until proven guilty..."

Daniel cleared his throat discreetly and muttered, "That's... that's more of a relatively modern innovation; guilty until proven innocent has been pretty much the norm throughout history."

The Doctor nudged him and smiled, his teeth clenched. "Not helping!"

Daniel glared at the Doctor as the Time Lord continued, the latter dialling back his enthusiasm to reveal what appeared to be a very old and dark persona, perhaps, as Daniel thought, the Doctor's true self.

"... According to Clause 374 of the Shadow Proclamation, sub-section 4, the destruction of an artefact of great cultural value is permitted, providing that its very existence or activation results or is projected to result in destruction or a significant decrease in standard of living of a species."

Daniel murmured, his eyes not moving from the judge, "_Shadow Proclamation_?"

The Doctor murmured in reply, his eyes not moving from the judge too, "I'll explain later, Daniel."

The judge sighed as though taking the Doctor's words into consideration, the sigh feeling like a slow wind blowing through the vast courtroom. The judge finally spoke but with an air of banality. It said, "Time Lord, this realm is outside of the jurisdiction of the Shadow Proclamation. The Shadow Proclamation, I believe, is only relevant in a single galaxy of your universe."

The Doctor remarked, "Well, don't we get legal representation?"

"_Legal_ _representation_? For what purpose do you require representation? Are you absent from this courtroom? Are you too guilty to preclude yourselves from the aforementioned accusations?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes on noticing an odd look from Daniel. The Time Lord remarked, "Don't tell me... another _relatively modern innovation_?"

Daniel piped up, hoping the Doctor wouldn't aggravate what or who appeared to be their captor for the moment. He said, "Your Honour, we request that you stand down on account of the bias evident in your last statement. There can be no fair judgement if you have already decided – prior to a fair and legal trial _without_ a jury or proper representation – that we are guilty."

The judge began to shout at him, the sound startling the two men as the judge's face shot down towards Daniel, its face only being mere inches away from the archaeologist's. The sound was also accompanied by a strong gust of wind which had the defendants struggling to stay upright. It sounded like a strange, blaring klaxon until words began to be discernible.

"YOU ARE ACCUSED OF THE ATTEMPTED DESTRUCTION OF EXHIBIT A! ANSWER! ANSWER!"

The judge banged its gavel repeatedly, its eyes – or what passed for eyes – blaring a bright red light to such a degree that it had the defendants shielding their eyes. The blaring – of both types – continued on, reaching a very uncomfortable crescendo, until, at long last, sparks showered out of the judge and it appeared to pause mid-sentence and mid-flash.

The judge promptly exploded into a cloud of smoke, leaving the two men flabbergasted and fanning away smoke with their hands in the dim and dusty silence which followed. The Doctor broke the silence eventually as he looked around for the TARDIS, only seeing the Pandorica behind him as well as their courtroom surroundings.

"This is absolutely impossible."

Daniel retorted wearily, spinning around to face the Time Lord, "What; being outside of our universe? Being in an English high court? Being tried by Robo-Judge?"

The Doctor shook his head as he looked at his companion. He said, looking a mite overwhelmed, "Daniel, we're in whatever came before the multiverses. That was an Eternal judge."

"He didn't seem eternal..."

The Doctor smiled at the archaeologist a touch condescendingly. "Just because your part-Ancient or whatever you are doesn't mean you know everything there is to know about time and space." Daniel fixed the Doctor with a cold glare but said nothing, and the Doctor continued with a slight smirk. "The Alterans-slash-Ancients came before humans, yes?"

Daniel nodded, looking intrigued at whatever point the Doctor was about to make. He said, "Our understanding before the whole prophecy business was that the Alterans and the Ori were pre-evolved humans." Realisation soon dawned on Daniel's face and he spoke quickly with excitement. "Are you saying that the Eternals are pre-evolved Ancients?"

The Doctor replied begrudgingly, "No... but if it helps... then, yes." As Daniel frowned at him, the Doctor said, "The Eternals – according to Time Lord legend – are from the dark times of our universe, possibly even before that. A much older race than the Ancients, they live outside of our space-time which, again according to legend, was created when our universe was created. What came before us still exists despite universal expansion. The Eternals are a parasitic race with no creativity of their own, hence our surroundings. Very much like the ancient Romans, they borrow ideas from other cultures, societies, and times."

Daniel was intrigued once again. Just when he thought he had a handle on what was going on, there were always new things to learn, new things to see and to do. He said, "The Eternals are from outside of space-time? But what about the Ancients?"

"The Ancients are still part of our universe; they're just on another plane of existence where time has no meaning. _This_ is a whole other universe. There are our multiverses which make up a, if you will, pan-verse or a grand-verse... then you have this, which is a whole realm outside of all that. No known laws of physics, a completely different idea of how trials should be run..."

Daniel turned to look at the Pandorica, his mind once more filling with dark dread. He said, "I tried to blow this thing up. Did the Eternals stop me?"

"Presumably. I think they might have been searching for the Pandorica for a long time... it is a well-known piece of Eternal technology. There could have been a crack between their realm and ours which it fell through, which could go some way to explaining how it ended up in Eureka."

The Doctor raised his activated sonic screwdriver above his head, the green light on its tip flashing increasingly and then decreasingly. Appearing momentarily put out, he then aimed it at the Pandorica. The device appeared to sigh and then opened from one of its corners, bathing the pair in blindingly white light.

The Doctor glanced at Daniel, smirking as he remarked, "Standing room only, Doctor J."

Daniel, squinting in the bright light, said, "What...?"

"We're flying this baby back to our universe. Let's see if it falls through a crack again."

Daniel protested, almost frowning as he squinted. "But it still exists. While it exists, it's a danger."

"It's our only way out, Daniel."

And with that, the Doctor grabbed Daniel by the arm, yanking him into the Pandorica, the device closing around them. As it shut around them with a resounding thud, they slowly looked up to see the TARDIS looming over them in the brightness. The Doctor grinned and opened it in the confined space, pushing the door absent-mindedly into Daniel.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor ran around the central console, slamming, pulling, pushing, twisting, and turning various controls. Daniel slipped into the TARDIS but remained by the door, confused by events thus far. The Doctor glanced at him during his gleeful transit and exclaimed cheerfully,

"Best ship in the universe; did I ever tell you that? Best ever."

Daniel pushed himself from the door and walked towards the console. He said, concerned, "But we're not in the universe. If I recall correctly, under normal conditions, the TARDIS doesn't work very well when it's outside of our universe."

The Doctor appeared flushed with excitement as he eventually stopped to face the archaeologist and to answer him. The Time Lord smiled a touch patronisingly, and said, "But this isn't under normal conditions, Danny-boy. This is as far from normal as you could possibly get; you're outside of time and space. Come on, you've been there and bought the t-shirt."

"But what about the Eternals; they're going to chase us home. I'm not going to be responsible, yet again, for unleashing a great evil."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at a glowering Daniel. The former looked at his companion slyly before pulling what appeared to be lever, his eyes all the while on Daniels. The Doctor said, "Geronimo."

The TARDIS began to rattle and shake violently, tossing the two men around as they struggled to hold onto nearby railings. Daniel was about to speak, to question the lunatic in front of him when suddenly it sounded as though all the noise and movement was gradually dying. As things became stiller, the Doctor ran around the console, screaming in defiance as he pulled and pushed, twirled and turned, slammed and hammered various controls.

"No! No! _No_! Come on, Sexy, keep going!"

Daniel looked at the Doctor oddly on deducing the Time Lord's pet name for the TARDIS. He however said nothing on account of there being bigger fish to fry, like, for instance, the possibly imminent destruction or, at best, damaging of the ship. Daniel, now feeling a bit more stable on his feet, was upright, holding onto a railing behind him.

He asked, "Doctor! What is it? What's happening?"

The Doctor, in gradual horror, stared at a screen as he ceased abusing the controls. He said, glancing at Daniel, "We're trapped. The TARDIS can't lock onto any co-ordinates." His gaze met Daniel's and he said dejectedly, "Two fairly powerful beings just walked into the prison for the most feared being in our universe."

Daniel retorted with an air of resignation, "It was your idea."

Daniel was about to use his abilities when the Doctor vanished a burst of black light. The archaeologist frowned as the image burned into his memory: black light; like the time he had taken a photo of a lightbulb with a negative filter on his phone. He soon felt the all too familiar sensation of being transported somewhere beyond his control.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack Carter opened his eyes into the darkness. He sat up with a start, his heart beating fast. He tried to calm himself down as he attempted to remember something. There was something; there had been something, and old as he was getting, he had forgotten. He was about to casually dismiss it as being unimportant but he couldn't. The something wouldn't go away; it lingered for much longer and nagged at him far more than any other something.

He felt his wife move next to him and then the brief tensing that suggested she had woken up, or that his behaviour had woken her.

A bleary-eyed Tess sat up, not bothering to switch the light on. She snuggled into him, her arms around him as she tried not to fall asleep again. She whispered, kissing him,

"Jack?"

He said, sounding confused, "I've forgotten something."

She groaned as she shifted against him. She said, "Aw, honey... you always get like this when Zoe and the baby visit."

He sighed distractedly. "Still not right that she has a kid."

"Honey, she's twenty-four." She finally switched the bedside light on. Tessa squinted, her eyes sore from the light. She said, "What's wrong?"

Jack frowned as he tried to think deeply, as he tried so hard to remember what he had forgotten. But it was to no avail. Despite this, something niggled at him. He muttered, defeated,

"God, it feels like one of those Section 5 things."

Tessa looked at him in confusion. She said, "Section _5_?"

He nodded, distracted as he continued to try hard to remember. He said, "Uh, yeah, when something majorly crazy happens, it's usually something to do with Section 5."

"Jack... what's Section 5?"

Jack Carter's eyes shot open and he turned to look at his confused wife. He said, "You don't know what Section 5 is? Hell, I know I'm not supposed to know about it and we don't discuss it... but I know it exists."

She looked at him with that look she had always used to silently doubt his mental state. She said, "Jack, there is no Section 5."

He jumped out of bed despite her protests. He said defiantly, "No, no, this isn't right. Section 5. Section 5 is the top secret part of Global Dynamics... it's where that doohickey appeared and took General Jackson."

Tessa got to her knees to face him. She said cautiously, "Jack... I don't know what you're talking about. There is no Section 5, and as far as I'm aware, General Jackson has never visited Eureka."

Something definitely wasn't right. Jack quickly got dressed despite Tessa's protests. He said, panicking as he did so, "I've got to find Jo."

"Jack!"


	13. Chapter 13

For the second time that day, or recent period of time, Daniel Jackson and the Doctor found themselves facing a trial. They were back in that same courtroom of gargantuan proportions. This time, however, there was no _'Robo-Judge'_ as Daniel had referred to the 'thing' which had appeared to be the judge, jury, and possibly even the executioner during their last 'trial'.

This time they were faced with a group of three women, of roughly the same impossible height as the judge. They wore long white gowns inspired or which possibly would inspire ancient Greek fashions in the universe of Daniel and the Doctor. The men noticed that the physical appearance of the three women changed continuously. As their appearance changed from that of dark hair and golden skin with features commonly attributed to the Chinese, to short dark curly hair and dark skin, Daniel was starkly reminded of where he had seen such a phenomenon before.

Lilith.

Lilith was one of the Ancients, an ascended Alteran, whom he had come into contact with on a number of occasions since he and Sam had gained their abilities. Lilith, in Jewish folklore, was Adam's first wife, the traditional step-mother of humanity. Daniel had always been curious about her continuous morphing but no-one could give him a decent explanation for it. He had, of course, long been curious as to who she really was but there had always been more pressing things to explore whenever he deliberately sought out the company or assistance of Ancients.

Daniel frowned a little. Had Lilith not been whom she had appeared to be? Was she related somehow to what he presumed to be the Eternals? If so, were the Eternals related to the Ancients? He mentally shook himself; his thirst for knowledge would have to remain unquenched. There were far greater, or at least far more pressing matters afoot. His attention was drawn to the Doctor as he tuned into the Time Lord's rambling which sounded increasingly hostile.

"... So you are the Eternals. I've encountered Eternals before – you're parasites with no creativity of your own. You posed as gods on my world. You pull people from our universe to..."

The three women interrupted the Doctor. They spoke calmly and in unison. "You are mistaken, Time Lord. These are the actions of a small minority – those _were _the actions of a small minority. Those who pose as gods are punished for interfering with inferior civilisations. And _parasite_ is such a harsh word; we are merely fascinated and thus inspired by the realm of time. Time seems too limiting – too finite – for us yet the races of your universe achieve so much within their relative timespans."

The Doctor smiled briefly as their last remark reminded him of why he admired human beings. He quickly grew serious again. Ironically, in a place where time meant nothing, he felt that they were against the clock; running out of time. Their universe was still in peril – all of the multiverses too.

The Doctor said, "The Pandorica must be destroyed; our universe has still not been completely restored..."

The trio replied almost emotionlessly, "That is not our concern."

"It should be." The Doctor drew himself up to his full height. He wasn't particularly tall – he greatly suspected albeit privately that he had shrunk a good three inches or so since his last regeneration – but to Daniel at least, the Doctor appeared to impose on his surroundings, intimidate them almost.

The Doctor continued, "The Pandorica fell through a crack between your realm and ours. In our universe, it released an exponential amount of energy which was about to destroy all of reality. I cannot and will not let that happen."

The three women regarded the Doctor with an eerie calmness. They said albeit with a hint of sarcasm, "Accidents will happen, dear Time Lord, whether you will them or not."

Daniel was suddenly overcome with an intense fury exacerbated by the seemingly blasé attitude of the three women before him. He didn't often let his emotions get the better of him, not least anger. All of his pent up frustration overwhelmed him, its red hotness surging through his entire being. He was very far away from home, away from his pregnant wife, away from his family and his friends. He wasn't sure if he screamed as the fury seemed to surge around his hands; he was – albeit in hindsight – aware of the Doctor trying to rein him in.

He felt himself lose control as his abilities fully returned to him. Bright orange and yellow flames shot up, towering around the men and the Pandorica. Screams were heard, presumably from the three women. The leader appeared to walk through the flames, gradually shrinking until she was a height relative to the men.

The woman raised a hand towards Daniel, white light emanating from her palm as she calmly regarded the archaeologist. Daniel soon found himself cooling; he looked down at his hands in confusion and then around himself as the flames disappeared. He eventually released a slow breath as rationality and his principles took hold; what had he been about to do? He glanced at the Doctor who looked at him meaningfully before their attention was drawn to the woman before them.

The woman appeared to glow softly in their courtroom surroundings. Her physical appearance continued to change, her appearance still appearing to sequentially represent the physical characteristics of an array of human ethnic groups. She said calmly,

"I cannot allow you to destroy our realm."

Daniel was still angry but not in the all-consuming, dangerous way which he had been. Still, he did not trust himself to speak unless he further exacerbated the situation. He looked instead to the Doctor; as much as he at times did not get on well with the Time Lord, he knew just as well as other people whom the Doctor had affected that there was no-one like the nameless man from Gallifrey to get someone out of a tight spot.

The Doctor regarded Daniel with a mild curiosity for a moment and then he smiled smugly; Daniel Jackson appeared to be deferring to him; the same Daniel Jackson who, personal differences with the Doctor aside, had got SG-1 out of a lot of tight spots with words alone. Ah, if only the man had known how much he respected him. Daniel Jackson was and would be a legend; he and the rest of SG-1 would never be forgotten for taking those first steps into the universe, for opening up new opportunities for humankind; even when Earth's population spread across the stars, far beyond their home. SG-1, of course, would never know how far and wide their stories would travel; how on one distant moon in centuries to come, there would be shrines honouring them; how on other worlds there would be public holidays and holy days named in their honour, and school plays and movies re-enacting the fortnight one Daniel Jackson spent working out how to open the Stargate, and the missions, expeditions, discoveries, and wars which followed.

The Doctor smiled briefly as he remembered watching a movie in the 51st century on some distant world; a movie about the romance of Daniel and Sam set against a backdrop of wars and turmoil as well as friendship and their growing family. Riddled with inaccuracies, of course, but it made him smile to think how much those mere humans had achieved, how they would live on past their physical deaths.

The Doctor appeared to snap into action as he approached the woman. He said decisively, "We need to destroy the Pandorica. It propagated a huge amount of radiation through the Milky Way's gate network. Because of the eighth chevron, it spread to 'gate networks in other galaxies throughout the universe. It even crossed the void and is affecting other universes."

He walked around the woman who looked at him in mild confusion. He suddenly asked, curious, "What is your name by the way?"

The woman nodded slightly and said, "I am known as 'Aglaia'."

Daniel stared at her in surprise on hearing a Greek name. He murmured, shocked, "'Splendour' or 'brilliance'; you're one of the three Graces, daughters of Zeus and the titan Eurynome."

Aglaia smiled but said nothing, and the Doctor resumed speaking, ignoring Daniel. The Doctor said animatedly, "... Aglaia, your world – your _realm_ is in danger too. Because of the expanding nature of the whole of creation, there are cracks in time and in space. Mostly, these are very small and inconsequential... but sometimes..." His expression grew grave. "... they are big enough to devour entire star systems." His expression lightened up again. "I need to know what you designed the Pandorica for and why it ended up in our universe."

Aglaia nodded once again as she considered the Doctor's words. She said in a smooth, melodious voice, "Time Lord, the Pandorica of which you speak was created to seek out our sister. An evil sorcerer turned her into a jewel and cast her from this realm. The Pandorica was programmed to find her and keep her safe... but..." She frowned as though trying to understand something. "... something must have gone wrong."

Daniel rolled his eyes and muttered sarcastically, "Obviously..."

Aglaia smiled as she looked up at Daniel. She said, a sense of sadness evident in her ever-changing eyes, "I sense you have knowledge of our sister."

Daniel frowned, confused once again. He said, "Who is she?"

Aglaia's smile vanished, sadness consuming her countenance. She said, her gaze dropping, "Her name is Sophia." She closed her eyes as she laid a hand on Daniel's shoulder. She gasped softly and whispered, "Oh, Sophia, she fell so fast into the unknown world. Sand and fire. A red stone." A scared Daniel held Sophia's gaze as she looked at him piercingly. "... You know the whereabouts of our sister; you freed her from her prison."

For the first time in a very, very long time, Daniel was consumed with fear. He had known for a long while about the Ancient – or what he had assumed to be an Ancient – which had resided in Sam since that night in New England when his father had given a red stone, the Star of Ma'at, to Sam's mother during their last meeting before their respective demises. Daniel had even met Sophia – he had freed her, the source of Sam's abilities.

It looked as though Sam would be in danger once again. Dammit. Not on his watch... _again_.

Daniel regarded the expectant Eternal with all the calm and nonchalance he could muster in his state of turmoil. Flames shot up around them all once again as the Doctor spun around, looking perplexed. The Time Lord then looked at Daniel and spoke loudly yet calmly,

"Daniel, you have to stop this. You can't destroy this place." The Doctor grabbed Daniel's shoulders, their faces mere inches apart. "Daniel, listen to me. Stop this now; it isn't you."

Daniel still showed no emotion as the flames continued to tower above them, engulfing their surroundings. Suddenly, he spun on his feet to face the Pandorica looming above them, untouched by the flames. He touched the box, his hands now emitting a golden white light, his expression unchanging as the flames turned the same colour as the energy around his hands. The box very suddenly disappeared in a huge yet silent burst of light and what appeared to be a vast array of fireworks.

Amidst the whirling screaming and howling, Daniel grabbed the hand of a confused Doctor. The two men then appeared to ride the unimaginable shockwave of the bright explosion into the whirling darkness as the screaming faded.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

In Colorado Springs, the sun was gracing the city with its presence in the sky following a period of gloom and some rather more seasonable snow. The Carter-Jackson, Mitchell, and Quinn children screamed, yelled, and laughed as they chased one another through the snow flurries, the air thick with snowballs, especially once their play had merged with that of the neighbourhood children.

Inside, Jack, Teal'c, and Cam dried themselves off with towels, removing snow which had been thrown at them by the children and one another. They also removed their outer clothing, Jack remarking,

"See, kids, _no-one_ is too old for a good ol' fashioned snowball fight."

Cam chuckled as Teal'c retorted, an eyebrow raised, "You are merely compensating for DanielJackson's many snowball fight instigations since last year."

Cam appeared thoughtful as he looked towards Jack whose mirth had faded as each of them remembered their lost comrade. The retired General said quietly, turning away, "Well, he learned from the best. Taught him everything he knows."

The three men were on their own in the hall, the rest of the house abuzz with other things and other people. Cam remarked, seeming unsure, "Time was we'd commandeer the nearest ship and go after that son-of-a-bitch."

A grave Teal'c looked from him to Jack. Time was Teal'c would single-handedly pull the entire team out of whatever trouble the others had managed to get themselves into. What had changed?

Jack sighed as they dropped their towels in the wicker laundry basket at the bottom of the stairs. He said, trying to appear brave, "He's not dead. That jack-ass always seems to find his way back home. Damn bastard has too much to live for, especially these days. It's not like the old days any more." He looked up at his friends. "It's not like we can do anything; we don't even know where he's got to. I hate to say it but all we can do is wait."

Cam glared at the wall impatiently and then relented. Teal'c said, the Jaffa looking grim, "Waiting is not something we are accustomed to; we are more accustomed to action."

Cam remarked, "That is the truth, T, but things have gone way above our heads lately, and _I _hate to say it, but we're old men."

Jack muttered grumpily, "Speak for yourself."

"Huh, says the retired dude."

"Says the dude trying to sound cool by using a word which has been around for 145 years. Nice and contemporary there."

Cam smirked and said, "Screw you, Jack."

Jack feigned mild shock as he regarded the general. He said, "Ah, and there's that insubordination that's rife in that old Scooby Gang of mine." Jack smiled suddenly and put his arms around the shoulders of his friends as they walked towards the kitchen. "Come on, kids, let's get some beers."

In the living room area, Cassie was seated in front of the window. In her arms she cradled her child. She looked down at the baby with a tenderness and a love which she never thought she could feel for someone so small, for someone whom she had only recently met. In spite of her fears, she had fallen in love with the bundle of joy in her arms. She had produced a child, her people's future on this foreign world. In the child that lie in her arms lie the hopes and dreams of not only herself and Simon, but her entire family both biological and adopted.

This time around, she hadn't been alone. She had had her family around her; she had even had Sam as a pregnancy buddy. She smiled slightly as she remembered those utterly sublime nights when their cravings had taken hold and they would eat whatever they wanted. Those days were over; now the child was finally here, she felt compelled to resume the diet she had arduously followed since her senior year of high school. Her fitness regime would naturally be a lot harder to get back into after almost a year of taking it easy.

Cassie smiled again as she looked down at her baby who squirmed in its blanket, a small fist escaping the confines of the blanket as though to establish its presence. She wasn't scared any more. She had done what she previously thought of as impossible or undesirable to repeat, but she had once more conquered the odds. Of course, there were nascent fears of all of the things to come: bringing up her child, the inevitable tantrums and arguments, the ongoing worries about whether her child would turn out okay... but these were temporarily put to one side.

She stroked the child's cheek as it yawned. She whispered, "Hello, Joanie."

Joanie appeared to yawn silently and snuggle into her pink blanket. Cassie smiled as she held Joanie's fist and she leaned down to kiss the baby. She placed the baby in her cot which was nearby and watched her sleep for a little while. As she did so, her worry grew; not for her baby but for someone whom she had considered to be almost a surrogate father over the years. Daniel was still missing and Sam was taking it even worse than usual.

Still tired from the whole childbirth process, Cassie leaned back in her chair, feeling too tired to sleep. She had wanted to name her daughter after her mother – her _real_ mother – but Simon had thought that 'Hekabe', or its Latinised form 'Hecuba' would be out of place for the daughter of 'the girl from Toronto'. Cassie had then wanted some part of the name to honour Daniel but Sam had refused, feeling as though doing so would confirm her worst fears.

So she named her daughter, Margaret Joan Brookes, or 'Joanie' for short; 'Margaret' for Simon's beloved grandmother, and 'Joan' because of 'Janet' which meant 'little Joan'.

Cassie looked up on feeling Simon's hand on her shoulder. She rested her head against it, feeling utterly drained. She closed her eyes upon feeling his hands massage her shoulders. He wasn't as effective as she would have liked but it was nice to feel wanted for something other than the milk she was producing.

And then she was on the sofa with Simon, lying in his arms as he held her close for the first time in a little while. She smiled tiredly as she looked up at him. She said, "Hey, what's brought all this on; one kid not enough for ya?"

He was on his back on the sofa, his wife lying on top of him and looking down at him. Simon said as he caressed her jaw, "What, I can't fool around with you now that we have a kid? When did we get old?"

She snorted with laughter and rested her head against his chest, glad of her close proximity to him. She said drowsily, "Ain't _fooling around_ if we're married."

Making her laugh, he retorted in a similar drawl, "Is if we're married to other people..."

In the kitchen, things weren't quite as rosy. Carolyn was leaning against the sink, her back towards the rear-facing window. Next to her was Jonas whom she regarded fearfully as he waffled, trying to find the words he wanted to say. She feared that she already knew what he wanted to say and it was tortuous listening to him try to get there. At one point she snapped,

"Oh, for goodness sake, Jonas! Get to the point! You're not an undergraduate dissertation!"

That seemed to work to some extent. Jonas took a deep breath and spoke. He couldn't meet her gaze however. "I can't do this any more, Lyn. We're two very different people, drifting away in two different directions; at least that's what it, ah, feels like to me." His eyes met hers and the tight knot in his stomach tightened further to see the pain in her eyes despite her best attempts to hide it. He said, gently touching her cheek, "We had a good run, Lyn, but..."

Carolyn asked, trying to keep her voice neutral, "Is it Dad?"

Carolyn never understood the tension between Jonas and her father. Most of the time, she felt as though it was Jonas' innate shyness which got in the way, but then her father could be an ass sometimes, General or not.

Jonas looked at her sadly and looked away again. He said, "It's not just Hank. It's a few things. We're not the same people that we were when we first met; we're different." He sighed and looked at his feet. "I just think it's time I return home and find my feet in today's Kelowna. I've been away for so long."

She frowned at him, initially confused. "You're _homesick_? We could come with you!"

He shook his head and then seemed to second guess himself. He said, touching her cheek, "I would love nothing more than for you to visit my, ah, homeland... but that isn't why I would like to leave. I thought things would be different. I have been, ah, compensating for both Daniel and Sam on SG-1 and trying to find my feet here, but I'm never going to be properly accepted."

She said, still confused as well as sad, "SG-1 accept you; you're always invited to nights out and..."

He shook his head again. Jonas said, "The past is always there. I have to live with the things that I never did. They might have forgiven me or attributed the blame elsewhere for what happened to Daniel all those years ago, but no-one has forgotten." Jonas sighed. "It's not just that, Lyn. I just want to go home and have a fresh start."

Her voice grew angry and she forgot about keeping her voice down. Carolyn snapped, "What about me? What about Henry?"

He gazed at her sadly and said, almost in a whisper, "I don't know."

Upstairs, in the master bedroom, Sam was in bed, the curtains drawn so as to leave her in darkness. She was quite big now, the General having to be forced on all sides to take her maternity leave. She lie on the bed, her head and shoulders propped up with pillows. There were many things she wanted right then.

First of all, first and foremost, she wanted her husband back home, safe and sound. She wanted nothing more than to see him again, to hold him to her bosom as she fell asleep, to run her fingers through his soft hair, to feel his fingers play a concerto on her shoulder. Alone, she found it hard to fall asleep despite her fatigue.

Next on the list, she wanted to have her baby. It felt as though she had been carrying her latest child for centuries, and recent events hadn't helped. In hindsight, and after a lot of drugs, pregnancy was a beautiful process but right now she felt about as non-beautiful and unglamorous as she could get. She felt bloated, and when her baby wasn't aiming soccer worthy kicks towards her spine, it seemed to dance the samba on her bladder.

Her mind turned over a newly acquired puzzle. Not one of her children had Ancient abilities any more. All of them, with the exception of the eldest two, had some kind of abilities due to one or both of their parents either being Ascended or in possession of Ancient abilities at the time of their respective conceptions. Now no-one had anything. Sam was worried that she wasn't as worried as she expected herself to be. The children had been tested thoroughly but there was nothing to indicate how they could lose their abilities.

Unless it was something that Daniel had done and he was waiting to see her again to explain himself.

She groaned as she adjusted herself, feeling uncomfortable. She asked herself the same question she had asked towards the end of her later pregnancies: why had she let Daniel get her pregnant so many times? She wanted nothing more for him to come home so she could yell at him.


	14. Chapter 14

There was nothing but darkness for a time; whether the time had been short or long, he couldn't be sure but it was certainly a 'time'. He couldn't even be sure how big or small the darkness was. It was just darkness; absolute darkness. He had no sense of where he was going or where he had been but, he noted, he didn't feel as though he was floating. He just, well, _was_.

Then there was light: only a sliver but there it was all the same. It was something; something in amidst all of the nothingness. Where was he now? Where had he ended up? He wasn't sure if he was corporeal enough to groan to express his growing displeasure at how things had turned out. The sliver grew and grew and he found himself squinting at the nonsense surging into his vision. He blinked, the light momentarily disappearing for the duration and he sighed, or at least thought he had.

The sliver of light and nonsense grew and grew until it expanded into sense. He quietly stared at what he eventually recognised to be the ceiling of the TARDIS. How the TARDIS – or any part of it – counted as 'sense' with its inside being larger than its outside was something else; but this was sense for him; something familiar – something which made more sense than what he had experienced.

He was shortly made aware of the fact that the TARDIS was in motion. He tried sitting up and groaned when he realised that his head was pounding. He lie down again, taking deep breaths as he considered making a second attempt to get up. This time, he did so slowly, grimacing through his dizziness. He hung onto the nearest railing as the TARDIS felt as though it had been hit by something or was overcoming a great obstacle. He closed his eyes and groaned again, feeling in part as though he was undergoing one of the hangovers he used to have after a night of drinking with Jack.

Daniel took another deep breath and opened his eyes, turning to look at the TARDIS console. The Doctor wasn't running around as he usually did. In fact, he was quite still, just passively holding onto a pair of handles – not caring about the bumps – although his eyes appeared to say much more as they looked at the TARDIS screen. The Doctor's attention was eventually drawn to Daniel, and he said, deathly pale,

"What have you done, Daniel?"

Daniel frowned as he struggled to get up with the aid of the railing. He turned to face the Doctor through the pain and dizziness. The archaeologist said, "What?"

The Doctor looked at him again as though wanting to chastise him but not knowing how to do so. Daniel got a sense of the Doctor's true age, almost as though the man before him had watched the universe grow old as preposterous as that would be considering he was only nine hundred and something years old and the universe, if he recalled rightly, was billions of years old.

Huh, Daniel thought, _only_ nine hundred and something, as though that were nothing to him.

The Doctor said, his eyes fixed on the screen, "You blew up the Pandorica; you could have killed us both and destroyed the universe." The Time Lord suddenly grinned although he seemed a touch disconcerted. He said, looking at Daniel, "Daniel Jackson, Guardian of the Star of Ma'at." His smile wavered as he said the next part. "Guardian of a stone that has caused so many wars, so much bloodshed and has almost destroyed all of reality."

Daniel said almost defensively, "It's not Sam's fault."

The Doctor smiled slightly appearing almost cynical. "Of course not." He sighed and said, "We're still riding the explosion – we're back into our universe though, which is a start. Where we are exactly is another thing." He smiled more as something occurred to him. "Heisenberg was a funny chap; you'd like him."

Daniel still appeared disorientated. The Doctor regarded him solemnly and for once, let go of the pretentious attitude he tended to employ around humans, especially humans who did things he felt were morally corrupt, or indeterminate to say the least. He said, his gaze softening, "Thank you, Daniel. As big a risk as it was, thank you. You did what I couldn't."

Daniel frowned, finding it to be his turn to be cynical. He remarked, "I take it that's the closest to an apology I'll ever get from you."

The Doctor hadn't appeared to have heard him as his gaze once more was fixed upon the screen in front of him. Daniel, curious at this, made his way albeit carefully around to the Doctor's side of the console. What he saw on the screen confused him. It appeared to be a representation of pictures Sam had shown him from COBE – 'Cosmic Background Explorer', a satellite which provided microwave maps of the sky to show radiation left over from the Big Bang, and from 'WMAP' – the 'Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe'. The image appeared to duplicate, one above the other and then the two merged, the cycle slowly repeating.

Daniel looked at the Doctor for an explanation, much in the same way Sam looked at him for an explanation for some of Jack's oddest behaviour. The Doctor appeared grave although not in a reprimanding sense; he seemed to be trying to hide the fact that he was about as confused as Daniel felt.

The Doctor finally spoke, his voice quiet, almost awestruck. He glanced at Daniel, and said, "The first image is of the universe or at least a vague idea of what the entire universe could look like." He pointed towards the second image below it. "This second image is the shockwave of the explosion." He looked at Daniel slyly. "I'll leave you to fill in the blanks, as much as it is killing me to not jump up and down and impress you with my superior intellect."

Daniel frowned as he concentrated on what was going on, his head still feeling quite fuzzy. His eyes then widened in surprise as he inferred what the Doctor was implying. He stammered, "Y-you m-mean...?"

The Doctor nodded and said, grimacing slightly, "Oh yes, as though your head wasn't big enough."

"Holy shit."

The Doctor remarked, "As a certain, most excellent Jaffa would say... 'indeed'."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack Carter seemed to be the only person in Eureka to remember anything untoward happening. Admittedly, he thought, it probably wasn't the first time. What worried him was that even Jo appeared not to remember the things they had gone through. He had to wonder in the end whether he had had a prolonged dream or hallucination. If he wasn't too careful, he would end up before the town Shrink again. He couldn't let that happen; he had some sort of a reputation to uphold, and there was already talk that he was nuts; mainly talk from his wife, but nonetheless, it was talk, and talk had a habit of breeding.

No-one even remembered that General woman and her husband visiting.

Strange.

Still, he thought, stranger things had happened.

It still left him little consolation as he increasingly felt isolated. What the hell had he experienced?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A tired looking Sam left her kitchen for the quiet of the back porch. She sat on her favourite chair and draped a blanket over herself. Resting her head back against the chair, she watched the sun set as tears repeatedly surged in her eyes despite her best efforts. Pregnancy had taken a lot out of her as had, to a lesser extent, appearing to be happy around her children. _Not_ being able to sense anything remotely like she had before from the younger five continued to worry her in spite of the tests which Carolyn and House had run on them.

It was just too hard to be strong all of the time. She had her family: her children, and her friends, but no Daniel. She feared the worst although she wasn't quite sure what the worst would be: death? Going insane like his older self? She sniffed as more tears ran down her cheeks as she tried once more to be brave. He would be back; he had always come back for her.

But then _it_ only had to happen the once; last times usually did.

In spite of the hopelessness she expected to feel, she was hopeful. She had to be; after all, Daniel would have done the same for her. He would have stopped at nothing to get her home again; as he had when she had sacrificed herself in his stead when the renegade Asgard of the Pegasus galaxy had captured him.

She stared down towards her bump as she felt her unborn child kick. She reached under her blanket to smooth her belly. Her last child: _definitely_. There was no way she would let herself go through this again. Her age aside, she hated feeling so vulnerable, let alone bloated, gassy, hormonal, and being the size of a house. Perhaps if she hadn't been pregnant, she would have been able to avoid being captured by the Pandorica, and everything that followed would never have happened.

The waiting; that was what she hated the most – not knowing where he was; if he was okay – if he needed her help. The longer she went without being able to feel him, without being able to hear him inside of her head, the more alone – the more empty – she felt. She had felt the same, she recalled, during the many incredibly low moments she had had for the years she had spent alone; before she had started being honest about how she felt about Daniel.

With a pained sigh, Sam closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep as she tried to be patient.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack Carter had been locked up; 'finally' by some people's estimations. It wasn't the first time he had been locked up, but it was the first time in a long time, and he really felt his advancing years. They were treating him like a head-case, like he didn't belong. What he had seen, experienced, and heard – it had all seemed so real. _They_ tried attributing it to drugs; some kind of powerful hallucinogen, but the Jack Carter of old had been no saint; he knew his drugs – what he had experienced had been real.

Or one hell of a hallucination.

Perhaps Tessa was right; it was the product of some weird Eureka-style mid-life crisis. He had never known his father after all.

Jack was seated on the floor in a corner of the padded cell, the corner furthest away from the door. He had long given up shouting, his throat now red raw from his earlier expenditures. His eyes were puffy from tears of frustration following his many attempts to escape. He had freed his sister, met his father, and had been to crazy places but no-one would believe him. No-one even remembered that damn box or Global Dynamics being evacuated; no-one remembered General Jackson and her husband visiting.

He cried silent tears. His whole world felt as though it was crashing around him. What on Earth or beyond had happened?

He heard a beeping noise and hesitantly looked up just as the heavy metal door of his cell opened, the force field behind it deactivating. He proceeded to then stare at the arrival: a tall blonde young woman, her hair just about touching her shoulders. Definitely a sight for sore eyes; literally.

He said, hoarsely, "I see you're still dyeing your hair."

She remarked with a slight smile, "Well, Dad, as they say, 'blondes have more fun'."

Her smile faded and she grew solemn. She said, "Tess told me what happened." She raised her eyebrows, as though surprised. "You had your wacky moments when I was growing up, but this has outwhacked them all."

Jack closed his eyes, his head resting against the wall behind him. He groaned, and said, "Great, one more person who thinks I'm nuts." He opened his eyes and looked at her. "How's the baby?"

She appeared bemused. "Alex is fine; it's you I'm worried about."

Jack asked bluntly, "What's happening out there?"

She cocked her head and said matter-of-factly, "Well, Jo is finally back in your office; in your chair this time. Tess is trying to act like all this isn't happening; caught her crying in her office earlier. Everyone keeps giving me weird looks and/or asking about you." She approached him, sitting down on the floor in front of him. She held his hands and she appeared scared. "Daddy, what's happening to you?"

Jack looked ready to snap at her like he had at anyone else that had tried to talk to him. However, he didn't. Instead, he looked at her pleadingly, and said, "Zoe, you have to do something for me. I don't know what's happened and..."

Zoe frowned and let go of his hands. She said cautiously, "Dad, you're gonna have to let this go."

He said desperately, "Please, just listen; ignore it if you want, but just listen. I need you to get Henry to contact a General Samantha Jackson. I asked the one time he visited but I don't think he listened."

"Who is she?" Zoe asked with guarded curiosity

Jack replied tiredly, "She's General O'Neill's successor and... my sister." On noticing her cynical expression, he snapped, "Just find the damn woman." His tone softened as he looked at his daughter. "Find her, and I promise you that I'll drop this."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The somewhat singed TARDIS had landed in the dark, in the middle of an expanse of grass. Looming over the ship, at a little distance from it, was a large house; a dark, quiet looking house. The door opened tentatively, as though the opener wasn't certain of what lie beyond the door. At last the door was open, revealing the Doctor who seemed somewhat shaken by recent events. Nonetheless, he smiled gleefully at being somewhere, well, still; stable.

As though to prove a point, he stepped out into the grass and bounced up and down. He announced excitedly, "See, _terra firma_!" He looked back at the TARDIS and laughed. "Ha! You can translate a billion languages except for Latin... and Welsh..." He looked into the TARDIS and waved at its other occupant. "Come on, even I thought you'd be quicker. Come on! Allons-y! Vamoose!"

The Doctor turned around, his grin fading a touch as he regarded the house. He glanced round to see that Daniel was finally emerged from the TARDIS, the Doctor reaching out as Daniel stumbled to a stop. The archaeologist looked up at the back of his house in awe. He glanced at the Doctor and said as though not believing his own words,

"I'm home."

"Well, as our good friend Jack O'Neill would say... talking isn't going to get you there."

Daniel began to walk to the house when he realised that the Doctor wasn't following him. He turned, looking at the Doctor in confusion. The Time Lord was casually leaning against the TARDIS, watching the archaeologist. He said,

"What?"

Daniel said, still confused, "Aren't you coming?"

The Doctor shook his head and said, "Not just yet; I've got some fixing to do."

"What kind of fixing?" Daniel paused as the Doctor looked at him meaningfully. He then said suddenly, "Oh, shit! Jack... um, the other one."

The Doctor raised his hands, saying, "Relax, Danny. As a certain general from Memphis, North Carolina, and Kansas would say... I've got you covered." He chuckled and continued, "Not in my odd accent of course."

He gave Daniel's shoulder a squeeze, and said with a soft smile, "I'll be around when you've stopped doing all those smooshy things that humans do when they haven't seen each other for an extended period of time." His smile faded. "And besides, you have a lot to talk about."

Daniel grabbed the Doctor's forearm much like Teal'c would grab Bra'tac's. He said sincerely, "Thank you, Doctor; thank you so much."

"Oh, Danny, it was all you. Really." The Doctor grinned. "Now go on. Anyone would think you didn't want to see your wife after all that kerfuffle."

Daniel nodded, half smiling at the Doctor. He walked through the grass, and as he did so, he heard the TARDIS engines thrumming. He turned to watch as the TARDIS faded noisily into the night. Daniel, taking a deep breath, proceeded to walk towards his house.

Inside, Daniel quietly made his way through the ground floor of his house. He smiled a touch on seeing a sleeping Jonas stretched out on the sofa, the Kelownan's snores quite audible. In a nearby armchair was a just as sleeping Jack O'Neill. Obviously, Daniel thought, retirement was taking its toll on the retired general. He recalled something Sam had said about their former commanding officer's sleeping,

"_A mosquito farting two states over would wake the man."_

Daniel hadn't seen the other armchair so almost leapt in surprise when he heard his name. He turned to see Teal'c watching him. The Jaffa smiled slightly as Daniel greeted him, and he rose from the armchair. He said, giving Daniel a big hug,

"It is very good to see you, DanielJackson."

When Teal'c had let him go, Daniel said, a touch teary-eyed, "It's good to see you too, Teal'c." He looked back at their sleeping comrades, and said, "Just like old times... except no Mitchell or Vala."

Teal'c continued to smile as he said, "That is an erroneous assumption, DanielJackson. The Mitchell family are lodging in various rooms on the first floor... as are the Brookes family."

Daniel chuckled, overwhelmed at the thought of his whole family being under one roof again. He said, "My God, I'd completely forgotten... Cassie had her baby then?"

"Indeed. Her name is MargaretJoanBrookes."

Before Daniel could say anything else, Teal'c gently prompted him to go upstairs. He said, in addition to pushing him towards the hall, "You must see SamanthaJackson. She has waited for you since she arrived here."

Daniel ascended the stairs, not daring to check any of the rooms in case he wake any of the myriad children under his roof. He entered his room to find the bedside lamp on his side still on. He found Sam lying on her left side, clutching one of his pillows. His heart ached as he stood at the foot of the bed watching her. He had missed her ever since that damn blasted box had taken her. He was relieved too; he had indeed sent her home.

He smiled somewhat as he felt himself reconnect to her thoughts and emotions, gradually feeling complete again. He was definitely home again; he didn't feel lost any more. She was his anchor; the one person that brought him home every time: physically, emotionally, and figuratively. He watched her stir in the sleep, murmuring his name. His heart at this, knowing just how much she would miss him, and feeling it to some degree.

Not caring that he had his shoes on, he climbed onto the bed and lie next to her. He reached out to stroke her cheek with his minor knuckles as he looked at her in awe, reminding himself of every little detail of her face. He looked down towards her swollen abdomen and gently caressed it, startled ever so slightly by their unborn child kicking him. His gaze returned to her face to see that she was awake and watching him.

Sam began to cry as she tried to sit up. With some assistance from Daniel, she sat up on the bed and he hugged her. She rested her head against his chest as he held her close, her cries growing into uncontrollable sobs as she closed her eyes, not wanting to let him go. He gently kissed her, his lips eventually nuzzling her neck and jaw as her sobs subsided.

He whispered, tears of his own running down his cheeks, "I've missed you."

Feeling more and more of his emotions and hearing his thoughts, she looked up at him, feeling whole once more. She slung an arm around his neck, gently pulling his head down towards her as she sought his lips with her own. As she did so, she felt a rush of thoughts, feelings, and emotions as she felt herself connecting with him, a white light from an unseen source glowing around them.

Smiling through her tears, she said, "You came back to me."

Between kisses, he whispered, "Like I wouldn't." He laughed through his own tears as his hand reached her bump. He said, "Holy cow, Sammy J, you're as big as a house."

She started laughing at what he had called her. She then said, very obviously _not_ offended, "You sure know how to flatter a girl." She laughed again and said, incredulous, "_Sammy J_?"

He shrugged and said, flushed, "Admittedly not the best I've ever come up with. I'm working on it."

Concerned for her wellbeing, he gently helped her to lie down with him. He held her close, her head resting on his shoulder as he fell back into old routines, into normal, or what passed for normal, home life. He was finally at home with his wife and his entire family. He still didn't care that he was still fully dressed.

Daniel kissed the top of Sam's head as her fingers wandered over his shirted chest. He watched, initially surprised, as his body began to glow softly. When the glow faded, he found that he had been divested of all of his clothing, save his boxer shorts. His smile faded as he recalled recent events; how close he had come to losing his wife – how helpless and impotent he had felt.

He groaned as he felt tiredness creep up on him once again. He didn't want to go to sleep; not now. His fingers wandered across her back as he thought of everything, giving her a mentally visual account of the events that had occurred since her entrapment in the Pandorica: Jack Carter, attempting to destroy the Pandorica, being sent to the Eternals' realm, escaping.

When he had finished, she looked up at him suddenly. She said cautiously, "Daniel, what did you do?"

He looked down at her and said regretfully, "I'm sorry, Sam; they would have let the Pandorica back into our universe. There was no other way for us to escape with the universe intact."

Sam's eyes narrowed as she looked at him, the man before him apparently being responsible for the subject of her life's study. She said, disbelieving, "I'm married to the creator of the universe? Holy Hannah, I knew your ego was big but..."

Daniel looked at her sceptically. He said, "I don't know if what the Doctor implied was accurate. He can be quite dramatic."

"Like someone I know." She sighed, growing serious again. She said, "What about the kids? No-one has Ancient powers any more. Was that you?"

Daniel nodded, saying guiltily, "I had to protect them; they were attracting too much attention especially with the two of us out of the picture."

She asked, worried, "Do we give it back to them?" She propped herself up so that she was looking down at him. She said, "Daniel, I don't know what ethics apply to this situation. Jake, Claire, Grace, Greg, and Dani were born with those abilities; what right do we have to take that away from them?"

He replied uneasily, "We're their parents; it's our decision until they are old enough to make that decision for themselves." He caressed Sam's cheek, and asked, "What do you think?"

She sighed, a worried frown developing on her face. She said, "I don't know. I mean, if it keeps them safe, then sure... but those abilities are a part of who they are. Do we even have that right, to take that from them?"

"Perhaps they could have them back when they're old enough to make that decision for themselves. I don't know; I did what I did to protect them and I stand by that decision."

She kissed him, and said, "I appreciate it." She smiled briefly. "You know how I like you taking the lead."

Sam rested her head on Daniel's chest as he played with her hair, their thoughts filled with what had happened. Their thoughts centred on their children, and on the Ancient/Eternal which dwelt within Sam. That would be a hard subject to broach and neither were sure they wanted to cross that bridge just yet.


	15. Chapter 15

Daniel Jackson had been swamped by his own children. He was seated on the floor of his living room, all seven of his children clambering on him. He usually discouraged them from getting as overexcited as this, but he didn't care. He was home. He was with his wife, his family, with everyone he cared about. Everyone was under one roof; they were safe and alive.

Alive. What a big word that was. Big and so beautiful.

He hugged each one of his children, kissing them gently. He was so happy see them; so very happy and relieved that it took all that he had not to cry. He just enjoyed the moment, the wonderful welcome from his troupe of babies. He grinned as he looked at each of them, noticing how much they had grown; taking satisfaction in the fact that he had helped make each of them. He was so proud. He and Sam had built their own little world and it was so perfect. He wouldn't give it up for anything or anyone; this was it – his life; his everything.

He looked up to see Sam seated on the sofa, his wife taking the weight off her feet. Her grin matched his and he could feel her happiness. He continued to grin as he considered that he was also responsible for making the child that she carried. Soon, there would be eight Carter-Jackson children.

Eight.

He chuckled as he continued to bond with his children. Eight was a lucky number in Chinese and Japanese cultures. In Hinduism, it was the symbol of wealth and plenty. In Islam, there were eight heavens. In the Jewish religion, Hanukkah lasted for eight days and eight nights. In Buddhism, the Noble Eight-fold path was one of the main teachings of Buddha. At work, to establish a wormhole between two 'gates in different galaxies, a eight-chevron 'gate address was needed. In Christianity, it was the number of beatitudes – teachings in the form of eight blessings from Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount as reported by Matthew.

Daniel Jackson had never been religious nor was he superstitious, but he liked to think of each of his children as a beatitude: Cammie, James, Claire, Jake, Grace, Greg, Dani, and the unborn one; they were each a blessing to him. They each continued to fill his world with love, laughter, hope, and colour; not forgetting tantrums, mischief, and tears. He smiled, knowing that Sam wholeheartedly agreed, as he considered that he would never choose anything over their circle of chaos.

The time of self doubt and recriminations was over; he was a changed man – a new man. He knew where he was, who he was, and it was all thanks to the woman watching him. She had loved him despite the things he had put her through, despite the chaos that had ensued before and throughout their relationship. She had never stopped loving him, believing in him, and it had eventually allowed him to believe in himself, to realise that he was worth believing in; that he was worth loving.

Finally.

He smirked briefly as he sensed Sam's intrusion into his thoughts. There was no question any more; no self doubt or as many insecurities. She was his, and he was hers, and they had made one hell of a life together. They had been through so much, separately and together; so much darkness, and they had come through stronger for it; stronger, better, happier.

The frenzy and excitement soon faded due in no small part to Sam's attempts to free her husband. Soon, they were gone – the younger ones being taken by Cam and Vala for afternoon naps; the older ones being encouraged by their mother to do their homework with Frankie and Sam Mitchell. Daniel and Sam were left alone in the living room: Daniel was still seated on the floor, and Sam was still in her position on the sofa.

He looked up at her from his position. He said softly, "This just couldn't get any more perfect."

She smiled down at him, sharing his sentiments. She groaned a little as she shifted in her seat, attempting to cushion her lower back. She said with a tired smile, "I just can't wait for the little slugger to be born. Not long now."

Daniel got to his feet and joined her on the sofa. He held her in his arms and closed his eyes as he kissed her hair. She had tried to prevent him from feeling what she was feeling but he still felt the odd twinge; there were times, especially since his return, he had felt like crying for no good reason and eating odd things. He had to admit, he did love it when she was pregnant, in spite of the mood swings and her wavering energy levels: she wasn't overly conscious as she usually was of how much she ate. He absolutely loved getting up in the middle of the night to eat with her; he always saw meals – the sharing of food – as a great way for human beings to establish relationships, interact, and to bond. And she was, by far, his favourite dining companion – he just wished that when she wasn't pregnant, she wasn't so obsessed with her weight as most other women.

And, of course, he had nothing against her increased libido when she had got past the morning sickness stage; even if it did make him blush to think about it on occasion. What was worse was that Jack often correctly guessed why a blush crept across his cheeks when there hadn't been an obvious cause; this, naturally, led to his embarrassment at the hands of the retired General.

Daniel continued to hold her in his arms as he caressed her bump. She had come to sit on his lap and he gazed at the evidence of their unborn child. She rested her head against his as she looked down at her bump too. She lifted her top and she too smoothed the skin, feeling relieved that her child was okay after their ordeal. She turned her head to kiss him, and whispered, a touch tearfully,

"I'm glad you're back. Don't ever leave me again, okay? Just don't."

Tears of his own threatening to spill, he couldn't speak for a long moment. Instead, he tenderly kissed her, silently both with gestures and with his thoughts, promising her that he would never deliberately leave her. They both knew that their partings weren't always voluntary; in fact, they were mostly involuntarily as they ended up being separated, one or the other going missing, due to some drama or another.

But he was there as was she, and neither wanted a repeat of what had sadly become the inevitable.

Through the intensity of their emotional exchange, they became aware of the front door being unlocked. They each tried to compose themselves as best they could, and he hugged her. There was nothing quite like being empathetically linked to a pregnant woman whose sanity he often doubted when she _wasn't_ pregnant.

They sighed, feeling a weight off both of their chests. They then looked up to see Cassie hanging up her coat in the hallway, a stroller next to her. Daniel smiled at this and he looked at Sam who ruffled his hair affectionately. She had sensed his excitement and general overwhelming at the thought of Cassie finally having her baby. The Hankan had left the house before they had woken up so he hadn't been introduced.

Cassie turned to greet them. She remarked with a smirk to Daniel, "You're awake. At least you've got clothes on."

Sam silently teased Daniel who did his best not to squirm under the scrutiny of the two women. Cassie said, seeming self-conscious, "I'm not intruding, am I?"

They shook their heads in unison and then looked at one another, amused. Cassie looked from one to the other and said, "Yeah, that still spooks me."

Cassie turned away from them as she removed Joan from the stroller. Holding the child in her arms, she entered the room. She seemed shy as she approached Daniel as Sam moved herself from her husband's lap. Daniel got to his feet as he gazed down at the squirming bundle that Cassie held. Cassie gazed down at her daughter with a smile, and then she looked at an overwhelmed Daniel. She carefully handed Joan over to the archaeologist who then sat down.

Sam watched her husband cradle whom she albeit scarily considered to be their surrogate granddaughter. She then looked across at Cassie who was now perched on the arm of the sofa nearest Daniel. She asked,

"Where's Simon?"

Cassie replied, her eyes on her child, "He's had to go to work for something." She looked at Sam and smiled. "I've just come from the SGC. You're right: there's nothing quite like bringing a baby on base."

Sam chuckled as she leaned against Daniel, her hand on his shoulder as she looked down at Joan. Daniel, meanwhile, gazed down at the baby in his arms, gently rocking her when she threatened to cry. He watched as she squirmed and scowled, staring into the middle distance. He, utterly overwhelmed, glanced up at Cassie, and said,

"Congratulations. She's beautiful."

Cassie replied, "Thank you. She's called Margaret Joan; we named her after Si's grandma and Joan is from the name dictionary you gave us, it being a diminutive of 'Janet'." She raised her eyebrows briefly. "My only input in her name; I did want to name her after you what with you being missing at the time, but Simon got all funny about it."

Daniel remarked distractedly, "Just as well... I think I'm got enough children named after me to make the dead jealous."

Sam laughed as she struggled to stand up. When she had got up, she retrieved a small silver digital camera from a nearby drawer. She switched it on and pressed a couple of buttons before proceeding to laugh. As the others looked at her, she shook her head in slight disbelief as she looked at the images stored on the camera. She showed Daniel and Cassie some of them, and she remarked,

"Not as bad as last time, admittedly, but three shots of Jake's teeth, a blurry one of the kitchen floor, and five shots of what appears to be the underside of my car."

Cassie laughed at this, and said, glancing at Daniel, "Well, we all know who's to blame."

Daniel tried to look at her sternly but his gaze softened as it returned to the baby in his arms. Sam crouched down in front of her husband, feeling some discomfort due to her size. Still, she took a few pictures of Daniel and the baby, and with Cassie. Daniel shook his head a little, smiling as Sam put the camera away – since they had started their little brood Sam had enthusiastically taken it upon herself to capture every scene that she deemed memorable or humorous. They had bookshelves jam-packed with albums and scrapbooks that she and some of the children had created.

He looked up at Cassie and said, "And you think I'm bad."

He stroked the palm of one of Joanie's tiny hands. He beamed as she closed her hand around his finger, holding onto it as she yawned and then appeared to be making faces at him. He looked up at Cassie and said, "I'm so proud of you." He glanced at Sam. "We both are."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Doctor opened the door of the TARDIS and stepped out, not knowing if he was in the right place, and fully expecting not to be. He was pleasantly surprised that he was indeed in the right place when he found himself inside what appeared to be a Sheriff's office, with a familiar woman with dark hair pointing a gun at him. He hadn't got to know her before she and Jack Carter had been sent back to Earth, much to his regret, but that was the last thing on his mind.

The first thing was the gun pointed at him. A Beretta M9, also known as a 9mm. She was obviously of a military background, and just as obviously didn't appear to recognise him. Or she did and she just didn't like him – that wasn't out of the ordinary for him. He had travelled so far and wide, lived for so long that it was very hard to keep track of all the people who despised him.

He closed the TARDIS door, and he slowly raised his hands as he faced Jo. He said aloud, "Hello, Acting-Sheriff Josefina Alessandra Lupo." He inclined his head in the vague direction of one of his jacket pockets. "Can I offer you a Jammy Dodger? How about a jelly baby?" He cringed a little. "Actually, you know, I think I might chuck those out – I _hate_ jelly babies."

Jo looked at him oddly, not knowing how the stranger before her could know her name. She kept her gun trained on the man, forcing herself to focus as she wondered too how he had got that blue box into her office without her knowledge. Her eyes suddenly unfocussed and she felt as though her head had been zapped. She wasn't sure but she thought that there was the briefest glimpse of something that she had forgotten but which soon escaped her.

Her eyes focussed again as she tried to maintain her composure. She shouted the man to identify himself, getting more and more unnerved at the repeated zappings and the man's casual confidence.

The Doctor, his hands still raised, said, "Don't worry, it'll come back to you. The Eternals are a useless bunch. Teleportation over long distances of time and space is a struggle for them."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Just relax – you'll make the whole experience so much easier."

She snapped, her gun still trained on him, "Shut up!"

The flashes increased in intensity as she clutched her head with one hand, the other hand still holding her gun. She said, sounding confused, "What the hell is happening here?" She looked at him accusingly. "What did you do?"

"For once, not my fault... directly."

Just then they heard the front door of the office building open. He heard a female voice call out, "Jo! Henry did some digging; looks like Dad was..."

Zoe appeared in the doorway of the main office. She looked from the Doctor to Jo, concerned that the latter appeared to be in pain. She rushed to Jo's aid, saying to the Doctor, "What have you done?" She said to Jo, "Jo, what's wrong? What happened?"

Zoe managed to remove the firearm from Jo's hands and put it on a nearby desk. Jo, ignoring this, looked at the Doctor in confusion as she gradually recognised him. The Doctor smiled coyly and said, "The Eternals haven't a clue about teleportation; _my_ people invented it." He paused briefly as though in thought. "Okay, so we had a little help from the Asgard before they started fiddling with themselves... or the Asgard had a little help from us; it all depends on who you ask really."

Jo let go of her head as she looked at the Doctor with new recognition. Zoe appeared confused as she looked from one to the other. She said, "Okay, will somebody just tell me what in Galen's name is going on?"

The Doctor looked enthusiastic as he walked to the door. He winked at Zoe and said, "Let's go and get your Dad first, Doctor Carter."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

In the SGC Infirmary, House was standing in the shadows. He preferred watching situations rather than being involved in them. He often found that he could operate more objectively and see the bigger picture when he simply observed. He also preferred to study the various people he came across, mainly through observation as conversing with other humans irritated him a lot of the time, especially at the SGC.

His penchant for observation had been renewed since he had been working at Stargate Command. The people and the goings-on were interesting; not to mention the impossibilities he had been a part of, such as watching Daniel Jackson give birth, and going through the Stargate to other planets. Oh, and of course, there had been his placement in another galaxy. Even though he _slightly_ missed his friends from Princeton Plainsboro, he loved working at the SGC. It satisfied much of his general curiosity and had expanded his horizons beyond measure. Naturally, he would never admit anything so positive to anyone.

House watched with silent interest as Carolyn went about her duties. In and out of various isolation rooms and offices he watched her go, conducting physicals, patching up personnel, or making notes. There was something different about her; there had been for quite a while. It bugged him but he wasn't going to ask her; where would be the fun in that?

She seemed distracted. Her hair wasn't quite as immaculate as it usually was; it looked as if it had been thrown carelessly into a ponytail. She appeared to have forgone her usual make-up save for what appeared to be hastily rose-tinted lip balm. She appeared to have lost five, no, around six-to-seven pounds in weight. She was walking quite fast but the number of times she yawned and her unsettling pallor seemed to him as though she was having difficulty sleeping and she possibly had something on her mind which she was struggling to deal with. He noted the absence of her wedding band.

Definitely trouble in paradise.

He watched as General Mitchell entered the Infirmary, the General still as casual as ever despite his recent promotion. The sleeves of his dark blue base uniform had painstakingly been rolled up, and he had his hands in his pockets. Mitchell nodded in greeting to House as he made his way over to Lam, Quinn, or whatever she was going to call herself. House watched, surmising that as he hadn't seen Jonas Quinn visit the Infirmary as often as he had in the past, that there was trouble in the Quinn household.

Oh well, he thought. Just so long as she didn't let it interfere with her job. He grudgingly admitted to himself that she was a good doctor, but he couldn't help but feel edgy with their team being one short with Frasier on maternity leave.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Cam, in his blue base uniform, strolled into the SGC Infirmary. He was still getting used to people standing to attention and calling him 'Sir' with significantly more emphasis than they had been. He wasn't quite sure how Sam had coped with that aspect of the job. It was unnerving to have people look to him for guidance and for him to be expected to sit in 'the chair'. It was more than any man could take.

There were other issues pressing on his mind, surprisingly not directly related to the daily running of the SGC. Jonas and Carolyn had appeared to have separated but weren't sure what they were doing. Cam felt the need to intervene or just to be a shoulder to cry on; after all, he was now acting base commander: they were technically his staff. More importantly, Jonas was on his team, even if that team only seemed to exist on paper these days or when things got _really_ bad. But he had always been protective of Carolyn, right from the start. She was the daughter of his then commanding officer, Landry, and he had promised Jack that he would keep an eye on her. But she had adapted well to working in a military environment without his help.

Still, the promise he had made a long time ago, once more came to the fore. And Cameron Mitchell, in spite of various foibles and being married to who an alternate version of Jackson had referred to as a 'space pirate', was a man of honour; he kept his promises – or at least he did when he remembered making them.

He nodded at House, noting that that particular doctor appeared to be in what he had taken to calling 'House's watching mode', where House appeared to be analysing things from an objective standpoint. That man could be a cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch but he was a damn fine doctor and had long since proved his worth. Cam could tolerate all sorts of less than desirable character traits from a person if they pulled their weight, and House definitely had.

Cam made his way to Carolyn who appeared to be rifling through some paper; a mug of coffee and a blister packet of caffeine pills on a nearby table. Cam looked at her in concern, noticing to his dismay that she looked markedly different from the last time he remembered looking at her. He had been aware of her and Jonas having issues but they had always been a private couple; Cam and the rest of their friends had given them space.

Cam said quietly, "Car, you really need a vacation."

Carolyn glanced up at him, hastily returning her attention to the papers she was looking through. She said, scoffing, "Yeah, and let House run riot. It might have been a possibility if Cass hadn't been pregnant."

Cam continued, "You know what I mean. We'll sort something out, bring Carmichael and Brightman back from Atlantis, or see if they'll let us have Beckett. Anything so you can have some time to breathe. This can't be healthy."

Realising that she looked as though she was going to push him away, he led her to her office. House would just have to guess whatever he wanted to guess. Inside, Carolyn sat behind her desk, wearily throwing her papers down. Cam turned a chair around, the seat facing him as he took a seat on it. He folded his arms across the top of the chair, and regarded the chief medical officer of the SGC with continued concern.

Cam said, "We're worried about you; we all are. You guys – well, _you_ in particular – don't seem to like the whole family thing we've got going on, but it works for us."

Carolyn replied tiredly, "I never said that I didn't like it; it just felt weird to me. I'm not on SG-1. All of you guys have that in common."

"That's not the point. We're a family, and family look out for one another." He looked at her sternly. "Now, I really need you to be honest because Jonas won't tell us anything. What in the Sam Hill is going on?"

She sighed as she looked at him, trying not to give anything away by her facial expression. But she was tired; she was so very tired. She was tired of the world, of everything in it. Life just seemed to want to drag her down every so often, to remind her that she couldn't really have everything that she ever wanted; that if she ever did, it would always come with a heavy price.

She said, "Jo wants to go back to Langara. I don't think he thinks he fits in with SG-1 or in our family." She chuckled humourlessly, pain evident in her tone. "I didn't think much of it when he had problems with my Dad; I mean, some people do; he's not the easiest person to get on with."

Cam sighed softly, remembering his own awkward relationship with General Landry. He said, "I'm just sorry none of us intervened before now. Everyone has problems but maybe we could have done something."

She shook her head, defeat now evident on her face. She said, "Cam, I didn't see this coming. That's what worries me. How the hell can I be a good mother to Henry if I'm so short-sighted?"

"Well, Jonas isn't leaving the SGC just yet. There's all sorts of paperwork he has to fill out which I haven't received yet." He smiled slightly. "Maybe you could change his mind, work things out between you. It's not like it's just the two of you: you have a child to think about as well."

She sniffed, aware that she was now beginning to cry. She said, "I know... that's one of the reasons why it's been so hard. I don't want Henry growing up to hate me."

He looked at her, worried. He said soothingly, "Hey, hey, less of that. That kid's not going to hate you." He smiled slightly once again. He said, "Every couple has problems. Hell, you won't believe the number of times Vala and I have had blow outs. It can be so infuriating being under the same roof as that woman sometimes."

Carolyn laughed as she tried her eyes with a tissue, all too familiar with the volatile nature of Cam and Vala's relationship. There were times where Cam in particular had ditched any pretensions of professionalism and had dug into Vala in what they must have assumed to be a quiet part of the Infirmary or the briefing room. It was far different from hers and Jonas' dynamic; she couldn't recall a single argument, raised voice throughout the entirety of their relationship. Was that even normal?

Cam got up from his chair, turning it back around so that it faced the desk. He said, "I'm going to put through the paperwork now for some paid leave. You've got an hour to go home and take a long deserved break."

Carolyn frowned, unsure of whether she liked that idea; the only leave she had ever taken at the SGC was her maternity leave. Now she was being forced to leave, to actually go and face things at home. She didn't want to; that was why she had lately pulled every extra shift she possibly could. The money wasn't all that important – although it certainly did help – what was important was that she was away from the mess that her life had become.

Cam shot her a semi-serious glare. "Trust me, I'm not a doctor."


	16. Chapter 16

_I am very sorry for the wait for this chapter... it quite literally has been at least eight months in the making. Huh. Eight. How about that... :D Anywho, yes, I am still writing... it's just been hard to find the time this past year. Thank you very much guys. _

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The TARDIS materialised on the front lawn of a large house. The door opened and the Doctor's head appeared, the Time Lord appearing to be peeking out of his ship; as though he were making sure the coast was clear. Seeing nothing objectionable to him, he emerged and grinned as he looked up at the bright blue sky. Unseasonably so for that time of the year, of course, but there were a lot of 'un-'s when it came to the people who owned the house behind him.

Unusual.

Unequivocal. _Well, mostly, somewhat._

Unanimous...

He grimaced a little as floundered for words with the prefix of 'un-'. Perhaps 'unusual' could count for several words; it was such a _big_ word after all, or at least subjectively so. He hummed something briefly and took in a deep breath. Ah, Colorado Springs with just a hint of glacier as winter faded into spring. Not his favourite place compared to all the places he had ever been to and would go to throughout time and space, but it definitely wasn't the worst.

But he had no welcoming committee: ironic or otherwise. The absence of the latter did make him a touch sad but that was off-set by the relief from the absence of the former. He tended to make so many enemies that it was nice to be on friendly soil from time to time. He squirmed a little – he would rather have someone notice his arrival, good or bad; it was nice to be wanted or acknowledged, especially when one had travelled alone for a very long time.

He turned on his heel to face the open door of the TARDIS. He frowned; he still wasn't entirely accustomed to how some humans – or most – were shocked by TARDIS travel and the basic nature of the TARDIS itself. He was well into his 900's; it had become quite tedious but he tried to be patient. He looked through the doorway, his hands either side of it. He said albeit patronisingly,

"So, are you staying in? You've come all this way just to look at the inside of a Type 40 TARDIS. _Yes_, it is pretty; _yes_, it is bigger inside; _yes_, it's the best ship in the universe; _yes_, this Time Lord is mildly disgruntled and impatient."

Inside the TARDIS, Jack Carter was still standing next to the controls. He was dressed in his sheriff uniform which looked even more starched than usual as though he hadn't had the time or the opportunity to break it in yet. He seemed dazed, as though overcome and overwhelmed by recent events. He looked towards the Doctor, and said,

"Is it safe?"

The Doctor seemed cynical at the Sheriff's apparent doubt. He rolled his eyes, and said, "Safest place on Earth, well, one of the safest." The Doctor appeared slightly nostalgic as he looked into the distance. "Ah, you see, this place here..." He glanced at the house. "... is protected by the Shadow Proclamation." He paused. "Well, not the place itself, but the people within it." He grimaced. "Unfortunately they didn't have enough resources to help out but you know, it's always reassuring to know that someone has your back, even if it's only on paper or just to keep up appearances."

Carter seemed confused, the Doctor's words not making any sense to him. The Doctor rolled his eyes again and said, beckoning him dramatically, "Oh, come on! I assure you they're not into cannibalism... yet."

The Doctor found some amusement in the panic that crossed Carter's face. The Sheriff, hesitantly at first, emerged from the confines of the TARDIS and into the wider world, or at least a street in a suburb of Colorado Springs. He watched a child ride a bike along the street, and a couple of cars driving along. He turned back to the TARDIS, examining the outside of it before looking inside again.

Eventually, he looked at the Doctor. He said, baffled, "I'm missing something – how the hell is the inside bigger than..."

The Doctor talked over him a little too impatiently. "... the outside. Yes, I know; you'd think I would have noticed that by now. I mean, you know..." He waved his hands. "... it is my ship." He paused and grimaced slightly. "Okay, I borrowed it." He looked at Carter. "Anyway, come on, I smell cake."

Carter appeared confused and quite shell shocked as he followed the Doctor up to the front door of the house. He should have been used to weird by now but there was always something once in a while that reminded him that he couldn't be on top for long.

Hell, he lived in Eureka of all places.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A breathtaking vista opened before him as he walked towards the edge of the mountain road. So many rocks and trees, so much _nature_. He thought wistfully how his home planet had become so industrialised that views akin to the one before him were fewer and further between than on Earth. At least Earth, despite the media blowing climate change out of proportion, had beautiful places still, where man had made little to no impact.

Jonas glanced around as though mentally checking his car was the where he had left it. His gaze returned to the intensely beautiful valley below him. He had loved Earth from the first moment he had stepped through the Stargate several years before. He had fallen completely in love with the place when his friends had shown him the wonders that lie beyond Cheyenne Mountain. Parts of the area reminded him of stories his father had told him, a Kelowna he remembered very little of.

He took a deep breath to steady himself as he suddenly felt queasy. Life had certainly not been easy. There were so many things he had wanted to do; so many things he had wanted to be. As he sat down on the edge, he closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun and the gentle breeze brush across his cheek as he leaned back.

The thought had crossed his mind, as it had a great many times before, to perhaps start a Stargate programme on his home planet. It could help his people find their place in the galaxy, help them reach for the stars. The SGC had worked very hard to make the galaxy a safer place than it had been so many years before, when it was under Goa'uld domination and then threatened by the Ori. Different civilisations had been given the chance to flourish in freedom and make a name for themselves; some good, some bad.

But were his people ready for such a leap?

Was he ready to return home and leave his family?

He opened his eyes and looked down at his hands sadly. He surmised that no matter what, he wanted to run from everything. He had run away from home at the first opportunity so many years before; he was running now. It had to stop. Earth had saved him, had nurtured and helped him. Carolyn had bore the baton of his development herself, and what was he giving her in return? He was running. He was abandoning her when she needed him too, and their son.

He glanced upwards, eyeing an eagle which glided in a silhouette against the sun. What would his son think of him? No matter how much he explained, he knew he could never truly explain why he thought it acceptable to leave his wife and his child behind. The thought of an older Henry looking at him accusingly, never trusting him, haunted him.

And at the first test of their relationship, of his honour, he had failed his wife. He realised albeit somewhat not-surprisingly, that he had been making excuses. Her grumpy father, his thinking that he didn't fit in with his friends... if the latter especially weren't true, why had Cam, and even Jack, repeatedly try to talk him round from leaving once he had announced his attentions? Daniel was a given – Daniel of course had held no grudge against the man who had effectively held his place on the team for a year, and then covered for Daniel and Sam when they were out of action.

It just seemed harder and harder to talk to anyone, let alone Carolyn; let alone his friends, as he felt increasingly isolated and alone. It had felt as though he was going through something that no-one else could understand. He cringed mildly as he remembered telling Teal'c rather abruptly that the Jaffa could never understand about feeling as though he was on the outside.

The ringing of his mobile phone startled him out of his reverie. He dug it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. He sighed softly and answered it, saying,

"Hey baby..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The briefing room at Stargate Command was particularly busy. SG-1 past and present, minus Daniel and Sam, were either seated or standing. Some were looking down into the gateroom casually as they conversed. (Retired) General Hammond was talking to a healthy looking Cassie, while Bra'tac smiled at an awkward looking Jack while an amused Teal'c looked on. Jacob, gently glowing, hovered behind Jack's chair. The ragtag team of SGC personnel and assorted guests had been forced into their current surroundings by the SGC medical team as they had taken up space, and become a health and safety hazard, in the Infirmary.

The Doctor stood on the edge as usual.

Jack looked up at a nervous looking Jacob. One more grandchild. Jack knew that Jacob had to be really nervous if he was showing it even in the slightest. Traditionally, the team would gather in the Infirmary or just outside but there were several additions to their party due to scheduled visits from off-world dignitaries and otherwise.

Jack remarked, "Thinking of that ever growing list of birthdays?"

Jacob glanced down at Jack and then made an attempt at disdain. He said, "In my physical state, birthdays are immaterial." He sighed, noticing the challenging look from Jack. "I'm not human any more... you should know after all the recent drama that bigger things are afoot."

"There are many things _afoot_."

Cassie piped up from her conversation with Hammond, "Can your feet be afoot?"

Everyone looked at her in a mixture of confusion and bemusement. Teal'c remarked, an eyebrow raised, "Your feet cannot be singular unless you were referring to one of them... or bind them together into a single unit."

Someone chuckled as Jack fixed his gaze on Teal'c. He said, "We must be bored if we're thinking of feet."

The 'indeed', as it was soon becoming, was unsaid but remained heavy in the air.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Eight children. Child number eight. Daniel held in his arms his new daughter. He had never grown tired of 'new dad'. Each time it was as magical as the last. He held in his arms one more member of his family; one more part of the future. The wonderful things his daughter could do lie before her at that point; the wonderful things all of his children could do. He had even shed a tear; several in fact. He had lived to hold his daughter; his daughter had lived to be held by her father following recent events.

He looked down at Sam who was asleep. Her slumbering form glowed softly in the dark room as her body set to work mending itself after its recent ordeal. He leaned down to kiss her gently. He whispered his thanks – thanks for having her in his life, thanks for her bearing him most of their children, thanks for, well, everything. He could very easily have lost his whole world when his wife had been trapped in the Pandorica. Perhaps one day he would not be so lucky – that thought chilled him to the bone – they had all been lucky far too many times.

He looked forward to going home, to introducing the latest addition of his family to the rest of it. He looked forward to showing off his new child to his friends. He looked forward to so much that he knew he would experience – the beauty that life could give; the things he had and would experience as a father.

He settled his baby down in her cot. She whimpered but didn't cry. She began to glow however and Daniel's thoughts were cut short. They had attracted far too much attention already. He knew what he had to do as he done with the rest of his children. He hated doing it without Sam's express consent but she would understand that it was for the best. He did not want a repeat of recent and not-so recent events.

Concentrating somewhat, he lifted his hands above his baby's form. His hands began to glow a golden-white colour as the same coloured energy appeared to emanate from the baby and be absorbed into his hands. The room at last fell dark when Daniel's hands fell to his side. He looked down at his new daughter who now slept soundly. He whispered,

"I love you, Sweetie... and I'll do anything to make sure you're safe."

He turned around upon hear Sam reply in the baby's stead, "I know."


End file.
